Swad

The year that went by...

2009-05-12T06:19:00.007-04:00

A big Hi to the blog world after a very long time. Before I start chattering on my blog, a huge Thanks to all my blog friends and readers who visited the blog from time to time and kept sending their best wishes! Friends, it is because of your inspiration that I am writing these words now:)

I had signed off from my dear blog in the end of year 2007 with promises to blog after coming to India. But honestly, thinking back on the past year - 2008, I don't know when it started and when it got over. We came back to India in Dec 2007 and the next one month went in settling down, meeting friends and relatives, and getting the house in shape. I started working in Feb and was blessed to be part of a superb office with a huge female gang. We spent hours in gossiping, exchanging tales about our past, present, and future, and sharing cooking and shopping tips. Ofcourse, we worked when we had time:).(just kidding)

We decided to renovate the house a little bit and that took another two months. I didn't have an Internet connection all this while. Around April, we discovered that I was pregnant. Our lives changed after we saw those two purple lines:) I used to wonder how females wait patiently for nine months. But I was wrong. Time just flew. I spent majority of my time in office. The rest would go in managing the house, buying grocery, paying bills. Cooking took a backseat in all this. I was happy that I was doing well in my career.

On a beautiful afternoon in December, we were blessed with a baby girl. Her name is Sayali. It's a delicate, beautiful flowers' name.

I have been lurking on all my favorite blogs from time to time. I have missed a lot of exciting blog events, and I am excited to get back to blogging. It’s going to be a bit challenging to manage blogging with a baby, but I am hoping to post a couple of recipes in the next few months.
Happy Blogging!

Bye bye kitchen

2007-12-27T17:22:00.000-05:00

As everyone around the world is gearing up to bid farewell to 2007, I am gearing up to bid farewell to a lot of things that mattered in this year. After staying in US for 1.5 years, we are going back tomorrow to India forever. That means saying bye to dear friends, this apartment, and most importantly my kitchen that produced all the recipes featured on Swad. I still remember the day we shifted into this apartment and I had made my first list of things to buy. It was fun setting up a kitchen and buying all the pots, pans, spoons, and gadgets. I had not carried anything from India and had to buy everything here. I loved visiting shops such as Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Linen and Things. I could have spent an entire day looking at items in the kitchen section. I remember my trips to the local library. I would spend hours looking at cook books to make special dishes for some event or another and carry home arm loads of books. I remember the last minute trips to grocery stores before the deadline of some blogging event. I remember making lists for grocery shopping keeping in mind I needed to buy apples for AFAM or something else for JFI. Mostly, I remember learning to use new gadgets that I had not used earlier. There's a good possibility that if we hadn't come to US I would not have taken so much interest in cooking and never started this blog. The success of Swad is due to this kitchen. I am going to miss it terribly. I still remember the day I decided to start my blog. It has been a great journey from that day. Here's a photo of the kitchen that inspired me to blog:

Nupur is hosting a lovely event,the Best of 2007. 2007 was definitely the best year for me. I started blogging this year. My dependent visa did not allow me to work but I utilized my free time in a lot of things that I always wanted to do. I pursued my hobbies, took cake decorating classes and bead jewelry classes, did voluntary work, and devoured lots of delicious home-made food. Coming back to the event, here are the winner dishes/moments on Swad:

The award for the most innovative recipe goes to...Idli Manchurian. Nupur's A-Z event of Indian vegetables had really got us thinking every week. Everyone wanted to do something different and it was great learning so many dishes that you can cook a using a single vegetable. Of course, some letters were challenging. I came up with Idli Manchurian for the letter I. The dish turned out great.

The award for writing a post that came straight from the heart goes to...Weaving friendship through cranberry nut upside down muffins. Bee and Jai sent the Amish friendship starter packed with love. Their affection and the lovely muffins resulted in writing a post that came straight from my heart. Some times the words just flow and you don't have to think about what you will write next. This was one such post.

The award for a simple dish that turned out great...Green peas with lovage seeds. Even if it contains very few and basic ingredients this vegetable tastes great.

The award for the proudest dish and post on Swad goes to...A taste of Maharashtra. RCI Maharashtra made me nostalgic and brought back memories of all lovely Maharashtrian dishes. If I had to define Maharashtrian food, I would sum it up as Zunka Bhakar. Of course, the attempt at making bhakris was disastrous and so I made mini bhakris. The zunka turned out just as I like it..zanzaneet, meaning fiery hot.

The dish that I had most fun making is: Puran poli. Trupti's cooking with family and friends event was great. My friend had invited us for a treat of puran poli and we all gathered and made them together. While one group was making dough and rolling small chapatis, another was filling it and rolling out chapatis, and a third group was frying the puran polis. I took loads of snaps of each step and truly enjoyed cooking with friends.

The award for one dish that I made from a fellow blogger and turned out superb definitely goes to...Tee's Microwave Besan Ladoos. I remember spending an hour last Diwali trying to fry the damn besan. I was sweaty, irritated, frustrated, my arms started aching, but the besan still wouldn't let out any aroma. When I saw Tee's recipe, I decided to give it a try. The ladoos were ready in 15 minutes without any hassle and tasted superb. I have named these ladoos 'Quick, hassle-free, arm pain free microwave besan ladoos'. Thanks Tee for this amazing recipe.

Any cooking resolutions for 2008? Definitely. One resolution is to blog regularly. I am hoping to post atleast one recipe per week. Second resolution is to try a lot of different cuisines. Majority of the dishes I have cooked in 2007 are Punjabi and Marathi. I want to try out a lot of different spices, cuisines, and techniques.

Swad will now go on a blogging break as I move back to India, settle into our apartment there, set up my kitchen, find a job, and get my Internet connection. There's a lot to be done but I will be excited to start blogging again.

I have hardly 4-5 cook books. It will be great if you suggest good books that I can buy for my new kitchen. Many thanks to all of you for visiting Swad. Your suggestions, feedback, and comments give me inspiration and energy to try out different dishes.

Here's wishing all of you a very Happy New Year!

Daily Daal

2007-12-04T20:12:00.000-05:00

Most of us might have grown up with memories of Shammi Kapoor's songs and weird dances. One of his hit songs that is a classic antakshari favorite is "Baar baar dekho, hazaar baar dekho, ye dekhne cheez hai hamara dilruba..Taliiiiiiiiiiii hooooooooo". Ofcourse, when I was a kid I didn't understand the meaning of the song and often confused Tali with Daal:)) I mean I never heard the song correctly and used to wonder why he's praising the daal. Now, why did I remember this song today? That's because it's time to send in your entries for JFI: Toor Daal hosted by the enthusiastic blogger Linda.

One popular dish in any Marathi home is Varan Bhaat. Toor daal is pressure cooked and boiled after adding salt and a pinch of turmeric powder. The combination of varan bhaat toop loncha (Daal Rice Ghee Pickle) is delicious and comforting. The recipe below is a great variation to the varan. Chopped onion and tomatoes are added and cooked along with the toor daal. The mixture is then tempered with a common spices and chillies. After making this daal for the first time, I stopped making the traditional varan. I was not very fond of eating rice on a daily basis, until I discovered this daal.

Daily Daal

Serves: 3-4

(I have tweaked the recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor's Simply Vegetarian)

Ingredients

1/2 cup pigeon pea split(toovar daal or toor daal)
1 medium onion - finely chopped
1 tomato - chopped fine
2-4 cloves Garlic - peeled and chopped fine
2 green chillies
8-10 curry leaves
Few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
2-3 whole red chillies
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds or methi
Pinch of asafoetida
Oil

Method

Wash and soak toor daal in one cup of water for an hour. Add the chopped onions and tomatoes and pressure cook the daal (2-3 whistles). Once done, mash the daal slightly with a spoon.
Remove stems, wash, and slit green chillies. Break red chillies into two. Clean, wash, and finely chop coriander leaves.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida, red chillies, garlic. Fry for about 30 secs. Add green chillies, curry leaves and fry again.
Now, add the cooked daal, 1/4 cup water, and salt to taste. Mix well and let it boil.
Serve hot.

Verdict: Try it and tell me. Pair this hot daal with steaming plain white rice and mix up some mango pickle. I am off to Las Vegas tomorrow. See you next week! Taliiiiiiiiiii Ho!!!!!!!!!

Thalipeeth

2007-11-29T23:39:00.000-05:00

Don't you think that our demands and cravings change with age? When we were kids, we would ask for toys and dolls. As we grow up, they change to books and CD's. Later, they become more pocket money, requests to go out on overnight picnics, walkmans, the list goes on and on. If you grow up to be fond of cooking, take up blogging, and land in the US, you will definitely crave for food items that you don't find here. I tried finding bhajani in all nearby Indian shops to no avail. Naturally, it was topmost on my demand list when my parents came to US. Bhajani is a special flour made by frying and grinding different types of daal and spices. It is used to make Thalipeeth and Bhajaniche wade.

Of all the things that I missed and craved for after coming to the US, thalipeeth topped the list. Thalipeeth is a spicy Indian bread, mostly prepared in Maharashtra, made from bhajani flour. I often dreamt of them. I saw those brown tasty, spicy breads with ragged edges and little holes. I remembered devouring one after other steaming hot thalipeeth with tasty ghee and butter. The combination was divine. Few months back, a friend's mom had come from India and she invited us over for tea and snacks. We were sitting in the living room when the familiar aroma of garma garam thalipeeth wafted from her kitchen. A minute later, she presented us with the tastiest thalipeeths I had ever eaten. I forgot all my manners, didn't say 'No' even once when she asked me if I wanted more, and devoured as many thalipeeths as I could, leaving a few for her family and my other friends.

My mom got bhajani flour for me, she even helped me make yummy thalipeeth. Bhajani can be made at home by roasting and grinding 2cups bajri, 1 cup jowar, 1/2 cup chana daal/harbhare, 1/2 cup urad daal, 1/4 rice, 1/4 cup wheat, jeera, and coriander seeds. The process seems cumbersome, so it's easy to buy store bought bhajani to make these spicy breads.

Thalipeeth

Serves:4

Ingredients

4 cups bhajani flour
2 medium onions - chopped very fine
1 tsp ajwain seeds
Pinch of asafetida
2 tsp red chilli powder (Reduce if you are not accustomed to spicy food)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

Mix all the above ingredients except oil, using water. Make a firm dough.
Heat a pan over high flame.
Make small portions of the above dough and round up into small balls.
Take a plastic sheet and lay a dough ball on it. Start spreading the dough with your palm, while turning the plastic sheet. Make a circle. Once done, make 4-5 small holes in the dough with your finger.
Pour 1 tsp oil on the heated pan. Take the plastic sheet in your left hand, invert it on top of your right hand, gently pull out the plastic from spread dough, and place the dough on the pan. Quite a task!
Pour some oil on the sides and into the holes. Fry for 1 minute. Invert the thalipeeth and cook the other side for a minute. Again flip it and cook for 30 secs.
Remove from pan and serve hot with yogurt. You can add some ghee on top of the thalipeeth.

Verdict: Thalipeeth topped with ghee and served with curd, straight off the stove is the ultimate divine food. The dough spreading process can be mastered with some practice and the results are great.

Tikhat Shankarpale with memories of Dussera

2007-11-05T23:17:00.000-05:00

(JFI has a special festive series going on this month to celebrate the spirit of Diwali. Inspired by Vee this month and originated from Indira, this month's JFI promises to bring lots of Diwali sweets mixed with some savory goodies. This is my contribution to JFI:Diwali in which I share my memories of a special Marathi custom and the recipe for your Diwali celebration.)

Tikhat or savory shankarpali has been my favorite Diwali snack. So much so, that I keep looking for reasons to make them. During Dussera this year, I celebrated online bhondla with a couple of friends. This group is quite instrumental and active in celebrating all Marathi festivals, and being scattered all over US, these females celebrate the festivals via online messengers. So far we have successfully celebrated e-mangalagaur, e-Ganpati, and e-bhondla.

Maharashtrians celebrate Bhondla on any day during Dussera. Newly married or unmarried girls dress up and sing special bhondla songs around an elephant drawing. The drawing is mostly made on a 'pat' or flat wooden platform. The songs are fun to sing and impossible to forget. I love humming them once in a while. I have attended numerous bhondlas in my childhood. It is one festival I used to await in the year. My building is blessed with a big playground or 'angan', so there was no problem in celebrating this sweet tradition. I remember getting ready for the bhondla wearing a pretty frock and garlands all over my hair. I remember singing the songs with my building friends and aunties. However, the most awaited and best part of the bhondla is clearly the 'khirapat' or prasad. All participating members are supposed to cook a special dish and store it in a covered dish. After the song singing, the members sit around the wooden platform and guess each other's dishes. Every member is supposed to provide clues such as whether it is a sweet/savory dish, chat item, baked item, and so on. The goodies are then distributed to everyone.

Our online bhondla celebration was a total hit; we began the celebration by singing an arti for the goddess. Next, each member sang a bhondla song. I had made tikhat shankarpale as the prasad, and within no time my friends guessed what I had made. I am not asking you to guess the recipe though:) During Diwali, we make two types of shankarpale for the faral: the sweet and the savory ones. These savory shankarpale are a great tea time snack.

Tikhat Shankarpali
(Makes a small batch of shankarpale)

Ingredients

1/2 cup all purpose flour/maida
1/2 tsp ajwain seeds/ova
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp hot oil/mohan

Method

Knead all the above ingredients in a firm dough.
Cover and let sit for 1/2 hour.
Heat oil in a pan.
Roll the dough like a chapati and cut into squares/rhombus.

Fry each piece in oil and drain on paper towel.
Store in an airtight container.

Though Bhondla has become a not-so-popular tradition and people are soon forgetting it, there are a lot of people making efforts to save it from becoming extinct. Marathi mandals across Pune and Thane have organized mass bhondlas involving 100 or more people. I am definitely going to take efforts to see to it that this tradition stays alive. I had an excellent time celebrating this online bhondla, the only problem was I could not share my savory snacks with my dear friends.

A very Happy and Prosperous Diwali to all my readers! May the new year bring happiness, light, knowledge, and wisdom to you. Have a happy and safe Diwali!

The purple beauty

2007-11-02T22:04:00.000-04:00

Till the time I came to the US, I stayed away from brinjals. They were just another vegetable that I detested. My mom made the best stuffed brinjals, but I did not touch the sticky vegetable and safely ate the gravy. As for long brinjals, I once found little worms while eating baingan ka bharta, so you can imagine how I felt every time someone served me that.

Things changed after coming here. The first thing I learnt about brinjals is that they are called eggplants here. Then there were so many varieties of eggplants to choose from - long, small, Japanese, fat/cylindrical eggplants. Being a vegetarian there are very few options one has if you have to eat out. There were times when we our dinner expeditions resulted in returning back after eating only soup or salad. If we were lucky, the restaurant would have 1-2 vegetarian dishes. Inevitably, one of the dish would contain eggplant as the main ingredient. No matter which cuisine we tried, eggplant followed us everywhere.

In a popular Chinese bistro, I kept aside all my reservations about eating eggplants and tasted their heavenly stir-fried eggplant. At a pizza place, we fell in love with a pizza topped with Japanese eggplant. In a Mediterranean grill, we consumed large quantities of eggplant mixed with scrambled eggs. Slowly and surely, I started liking this vegetable. As and when I tasted all these divine dishes featuring the purple beauty, I would shop for eggplants and try new dishes using them. Pavani's Eggplant in coconut gravy was an instant success; Nupur's Wangi bhaat was licked down to morsels. However, there was one dish that I could never get right - stuffed eggplants. I faced trouble every time I made it; either the masala wouldn't turn out right, the eggplants wouldn't cook completely, or the masala and eggplant would not gel well.

Mom helped me make perfect, tasty stuffed eggplants. Nothing went wrong this time. Here's the recipe:

Stuffed eggplants/ Bharleli Wangi

Serves:4

Ingredients

9-10 brinjals/small eggplants/baby eggplants

2 medium onions - chopped very fine

6 tbsp peanut powder

Salt to taste

1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (Go easy on this if you are not comfortable with spicy food)

2 1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp mustard seeds

Pinch of asafetida

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Method

Wash the eggplants and make one horizontal and one vertical cut on one side of the eggplant. The cut should be such that you can easily open the eggplant for stuffing. Keep the cut eggplants in a bowl of water.

Prepare a masala by mixing together the chopped onions, peanut powder, salt, red chilli powder, and garam masala powder.

Stuff the prepared masala in each eggplant. If you still have some masala remaining, preserve it to add to the vegetable.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 1 tsp mustard seeds; once it splutters, add pinch of asafetida, and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Mix well.

Next add the stuffed eggplants, the remaining masala, and around 1/4 cup water. Mix well.

Cover and cook on medium heat till the eggplants are cooked.

Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapati/puri/bhakri/rice.

I served this vegetable with Jowar bhakri, Nupur's Kothimbir wadi, and some onion slices.

Tried, tested, and devoured

2007-11-01T15:44:00.000-04:00

Many thanks to my fellow bloggers for providing such delicious recipes. Here's what I have tried, loved, and made again and again.

Nupur's Kothimbir Wadi, Wangi bhaat, and Lasuni Daal Palak
Manasi's Vegetable Sambhar
Coffee's Samosa
Sia's Coriander chutney
Anupama's Kathi rolls
Priya's Alu palak
Cooker's Cornflakes chivda
Jasmine's Mushroom Capsicum masala

Blogger buddies

2007-11-01T15:02:00.000-04:00

Take a peek at what's cooking in their kitchens.

Indian Food Bloggers

Useful links for bloggers

Cooking from other blogs for my parents

2007-10-31T17:30:00.000-04:00

After spending the most beautiful and fastest month of my life, my parents went back to India. The house suddenly seems very large and everything we do or say reminds us of them. We had loads of fun in this past month. We had candlelit lunches in the afternoon and talked, ate, laughed, roamed, and shopped non-stop.

I started cooking on a regular basis after coming to the US. Before that I did not have the knowledge nor the interest in cooking. After I got comfortable with cooking, I started this blog. But every time I blogged about a delicious dish cooked at home, I repented for not having cooked anything for my parents. I had decided to cook loads of dishes for them during my recent India trip. But then I got engrossed in eating 'maa ke haath ka khana'.

Their trip to US gave me the perfect chance to cook for them on a daily basis. For the first time I was responsible for feeding four hungry adults. I got 2 more guinea pigs in addition to the one I already have. Mom taught me a few dishes I always wanted to learn. My parents got a first-hand experience of my blogging. My dad often complained and teased me while taking snaps. He would say, "Here we are, hungry and staring hopefully at the food. And this girl is busy taking pictures." To top it all, P would bring his tripod, spend the next 5 minutes doing adjustments, and then 15 more minutes taking pictures. My dad's face would be a funny sight. Dad also commented on my cooking style. There are three ways in which I cook from other blogs. The first method is by writing down the entire recipe and remembering the method. I would often get bored of writing and resort to method 2. I do the preliminary preparations such as cutting the vegetables, taking out the masalas, and then make frequent trips from the kitchen to the living room. If P is using the computer, I would often turn it towards me with a swift, sudden, and not-so-humble fashion towards me. The third method is that I would be in the kitchen barking questions while P would sit at the computer and shout instructions. It's a funny sight when he tells me how much masalas to put. He says '1 tsp red chilli', I shout 'Next', he says '1/2 tsp turmeric', I say 'Next'. And finally the dish is ready! Method 3 happens to be my favorite method as it saves my trouble of writing or walking:))

This was the cake I baked for them the day they arrived here. Today also happens to be my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday Baba!

Here are just some of the dishes I cooked for my parents. Sorry, no pictures this time. Many thanks to all my blogger friends for sharing these wonderful recipes and giving me the opportunity to cook for my parents.

Nupur's Kothimbir Wadi, Wangi bhaat, and Lasuni Daal Palak
Manasi's Vegetable Sambhar
Coffee's Samosa
Sia's Coriander chutney
Anupama's Kathi rolls
Priya's Alu palak
Cooker's Cornflakes chivda
Jasmine's Mushroom Capsicum masala

Peach Iced Tea

2007-10-30T22:29:00.000-04:00

Waitress: Would you like to order anything to drink?
Me: Yeah, I will have Peach Iced tea.
Waitress: I am sorry, but we are out of Peach iced tea.
Me: (Thinking to myself..then why did you ask me if I can have 'anything' to drink)..OK. I will have plain iced tea.

Every time I asked for Peach iced tea I would not get it. I got so fed up of trying that I decided to make iced tea at home. I thought it would be complicated, but recipes found from Google told me it was a easy matter. Before we move to the recipe, here's some history of iced tea.

Iced tea became popular in 1904 at the St. Louis world fair. Richard Blechynden, a tea plantation owner had planned to distribute free samples of hot tea. But his plan flopped when a heat wave struck the city. At the fair, his eyes fell upon huge crates of ice. He served the brewed tea topped with some ice. It was an instant hit. Over the years, all types of tea (black, white, green) have been sold as iced tea. You can buy cans or bottles of packaged iced tea. But making iced tea at home is no big deal. To brew a cup of iced tea, boil a cup of water with a teaspoon of tea. Add tea, 2tsp sugar, ice-cubes, and lemon juice and blend together. Here's the recipe for Peach iced tea.

Peach Iced Tea
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

1 can peach nectar (I used Kern's peach nectar)
2 cups water
3 tsp tea powder
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
3-4 ice cubes + more for serving

Method

Boil 2 cups water in a pan. Add 3 tsp tea powder.
Turn off the gas after tea boils. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
Combine the tea, peach nectar, sugar, lemon juice, and ice cubes in a mixer. Blend together.
Serve the glass chilled with 1-2 ice cubes.

This tea is a sweet variation from the normal iced tea. Peach adds a sweet and tangy taste to it. Iced tea is good for body's immune system and hydration.

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Peach Iced Tea is my entry for this month's AFAM hosted by Mansi at Fun and Food. The fruit this month is Peach.

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Eggs in a nest

2007-10-17T16:36:00.000-04:00

We looked pretty ridiculous picking up dried grass and pine cones. Few friends asked us why we were doing this activity. We replied we wanted to make a nest to keep eggs. Oh, how would they understand the importance of Click?

This is my entry to Click, the lovely event started by the dynamic duo of blogosphere: Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi. The challenge this month is to click Eggs.

(Eggs in a nest)

I took this snap with my Canon S2IS digical camera.

AFAM Grapes round-up

2007-10-10T19:28:00.000-04:00

Drinks, bars, pies, chutneys - these are just some of the dishes that bloggers created using grapes. Blog events really make you creative, a fact proved true once again with AFAM:Grapes. Thanks for your enthusiastic participation and many thanks to Maheshwari for giving me the oppurtunity to host this event.

Sorry for the delay in posting the round-up. My parents are here and I am spending each day touring with them.

Here's the wonderful array of grape dishes:

Grape and Green Tomato Chutney: Mansi of Fun and Food

Date and Raisin Chutney: Mansi of Fun and Food

Black Grape Sorbet: Aarti of Aarti's Corner

Grape tea: Nags of For The Cook In Me

Curd-rice with Grapes: Madhu of Ruchii

Stretched stuffed grapes: Sona of A Kitchen scientist & a white rat hubby

Raisin Syrup: Chandrika of AkshayaPatra

Scones with apricot, raisin chutney: Padmaja of Spicyandhra

Caramel Energy Bar: Viji of Vcuisine

Sicilian Harvest Salad: Sig of Live to Eat

Green Goddess, Grape Chaat, Raisins Gojju: Namratha of Finger Licking Food

Black Currant - Raisin Whole Wheat Muffins: Raaga of The Singing Chef

Chicken Kebabs with Green Grapes Chutney : Sheela of Delectable Victuals

Grape pie: Julie of The Persnickety Palate

Soft Raisin cookies: Keerthi of Esculent Cuisine

Banana Raisin Bun: Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons

Wine drunk tofu with sweet sour vegetables: Rajitha of Hunger Pangs

Antu Unde: Latha of The Yum Blog

Grape Banana Smoothie: Swapna of Swad

Strawberry and grapes preserve: Marta of An Italian in the US

Tapioca and Tir-color Grapes Pudding on Pastry: Asha of Aroma

Chelsea Buns: Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi

Mansi at Fun and Food is hosting AFAM:Peach. Do participate!

Kelyacha Sheera

2007-10-01T23:19:00.000-04:00

Certain occasions and festivals remind us of certain dishes and tastes. Ganpati festival reminds us of modaks, Diwali of ladoo and chivda, Christmas of cakes and puddings, and Sankranti of sesame ladoos. Similarly, Satyanarayan pooja reminds me of semolina sheera loaded with ghee and nuts. Maharashtrians perform Satyanarayan pooja to mark the beginning of something auspicious. When something good is about happen, this pooja is performed to pray to God that it takes place without any calamity. Similarly, when a good event has taken place, this pooja is performed to thank God.

Kelyacha sheera is made as a 'prasad' for Satyanarayan pooja. Loaded with ghee and raisins, the sheera tastes delicious and is served in small paper cups. Each of the main ingredients is used in multiples of 1.5 or 'savva' for making this sheera. This number is considered auspicious and so everything is in multiples of 1.5.

We used to ask for this prasad again and again, forgetting that it is a prasad, expected to devor in small quantity. You can go easy on the ghee if you are calorie conscious. You can skip the banana and make simple semolina sheera. If you are making this for Satyanarayan pooja, take 1.5 cups each of rava, sugar, and ghee.

Kelyacha Sheera/Banana Sheera
Serves:5-6

Ingredients:

1 cup ghee
1 cup rava/semolina
1 yellow banana
1 cup sugar
3 cups milk
1 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp cashew pieces
1 tsp cardamom powder

Method:

Peel and cut the banana into slices. Boil the milk in a pan.
Heat the ghee in another pan over medium flame.
Add the banana slices and fry till they turn light brown. Add raisins and cashew pieces. Fry for a minute or two.
Next add the rava and fry till it turns light brown.
Add the boiled milk and mix well. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the sugar, mix together, and cook for 5-7 minutes.
Let the sheera cool down. Once it is cooled, add cardamom powder and mix.

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This is my entry for JFI: Banana hosted by Mandira of Ahar. Thanks Mandira for hosting this lovely event.

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A curry and a drink

2007-09-28T12:08:00.000-04:00

I know I am two days late for RCI and AFAM (what a shame!), but I am hoping Asha would include my entry in the roundup. I have been extremely busy last week and had no time to blog. My parents arrived in the US this Monday and the last few days we were busy cleaning the house, buying stuff, making trip plans, and cleaning some more.

RCI: Karnataka

Half cauliflower, couple of baby carrots, and few french beans...leftover vegetables in my refrigerator. No matter how many vegetables I use up in the week, some always remain and are carried forward to the next week. I mean, how much can 2 people eat?

I am always on the lookout for mixed vegetable recipes that give me the chance to clean my fridge of such leftover veggies. Pav bhaji, Kadhai vegetable, Vegetable Pulao are normal dishes. But after a while, we get bored of eating the same stuff again and again.

For RCI: Karnataka, I tried out a mixed vegetable curry from the book Curry Cuisine. This book contains veg and non-veg vegetable recipes from India, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The Indian curries are categorized into North India (Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, Lucknow, and Bengal), and South India. The book contains beautiful pictures of major spices used in these states.

Rasa Kayi are mixed vegetables cooked in tomato gravy and flavored with fennel seeds. This curry is a common preparation in Karnataka.

Rasa Kayi/Mixed vegetable curry
(Adapted from the book Curry Cuisine)
Serves:2-3

Ingredients:

1/2 cup carrots - washed and cut into 1inch pieces

1 boiled potato - cut into huge chunks

1/2 cup green beans - washed and cut into 1inch pieces

1 cup cauliflower florets

2 onions - cut into small pieces

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 green chilli - slit lengthwise

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp corainder powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

1/2 cup coconut milk

For the spice paste

2 garlic cloves - peeled

3/4 inch ginger root

1 green chilli - finely chopped

1/2 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)

2 tomatoes - washed and cut into huge chunks

Method:

Grind all the ingredients for the spice paste in a blender. Add water if neccessary. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the onions and green chilli. Cook untill the onions are soft. Add the carrots, red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and salt to taste. Mix well. Lower the heat and add the potatoes. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the cauliflower florets and green beans. Add the spice paste and mix well. Cook covered for 10-15 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and slowly add coconut milk, stirring to blend well.

Serve hot with puris/rotis/parathas or hot rice.

Verdict: This recipe is a keeper. The fennel seeds left out a beautiful aroma that wafted through my kitchen. The vegetables mixed with the curry were super tasty. As I said, this vegetable recipe is an excellent resource to use up leftover vegetables.

AFAM: Grapes

Grape Banana smoothie

Add 2 ripe bananas and 2 handful of red/purple grapes in a blender. Blend to a smooth paste.

Add 1 cup ice and crush it. Next add 1/4 cup milk and blend again.

Serve cold.

Rasa Kayi is being sent to Asha for RCI: Karnataka, while the Grape banana smoothie is my entry for AFAM-Grapes.

Weaving friendship through Cranberry-nut upside down muffins

2007-09-19T18:51:00.000-04:00

It arrived at my door with love, packed with some delicious brownies. The brownies were packed with utmost care. Enclosed was a card in a beautiful writing and an instruction sheet.

It weaves friendship in a unique way by stinking. The day it arrived I greeted it with love. I placed it on the kitchen counter with care. Every two hours, I would pay a visit and stare at it lovingly, making sure that nothing’s wrong in its growth.

The next three days I ruthlessly mashed it. On the 6th day, I again changed my avatar and fed it some flour, sugar, and milk. It got confused seing the change. It hoped things have changed for the good. But I proved it wrong again. For the next 3 days, I again mashed it. By the 10th day, it was clueless and scared. So, when I poured it in a bowl it had no clue what would happen next.

Ever since Bee announced that she was sending some scary, smelly things in the mail, I was anticipating their arrival. Wondering what I should bake with the special batter, I paid a visit to the local library. My hand fell upon a book that's a gem for amateur and professional bakers. As I turned page after page, delicious recipes for cakes, muffins, pies, tarts, and cookies greeted my eyes. The book I am talking about is Better Homes and Gardens: Old Fashioned Home Baking. There were so many recipes to choose from that I soon got confused. As the 10th day for processing the batter approached, I finally settled on one recipe. For all those who have received the starter, Nupur has provided the schedule to be followed. Here's my little experiment with the Amish Friendship starter.

Cranberry nut upside down muffins
(Adapted from Better Homes and Garden: Old Fashioned Home Baking)
Yields: 12 muffins
Original recipe

Grease twelve muffin cups or line them with paper bake cups. Set muffin cups aside.

In a small covered saucepan, cook 1 1/2 cup cranberries and 3/4 cup sugar over low heat just till the mixture starts to form juice. Stir frequently. Uncover and heat to boiling, stirring from time to time. Boil gently, uncovered, for about 5 minutes or till the berries pop. Stir in 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I didn't have nutmeg. I added 1/4 tsp cardamom powder). Divide the cranberry mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups. Set the muffin cups aside.

In a medium mixing bowl stir together 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup chopped nuts, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Make a well in the centre of this mixture.

In another bowl combine 1 beaten egg, 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup cooking oil, and 1/2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel. Add the egg mixture all at once in the dry mixture. Stir till just moistened. Batter should be lumpy while making muffins. Spoon batter on top of the cranberry mixture in the muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.

Preheat oven to 400degrees.

After pre-heating, bake the muffins at 400degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Cool on a rack for 5 minutes.

To remove muffins from cups, invert them into wire rack or a dish.

Recipe using Amish Friendship starter

Step 1 and 2 are same as above.

Step 3: In a medium mixing bowl stir together 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour, 1/3 cup chopped nuts, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt. Make a well in the centre of this mixture.

Step 4: In another bowl combine 1 cup Amish starter, 1 beaten egg, 2/3 cup milk, 1/4 cup cooking oil, and 1/2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel. Add the egg mixture all at once in the dry mixture. Stir till just moistened. Batter should be lumpy while making muffins. Spoon batter on top of the cranberry mixture in the muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.

Steps 5-8 remain the same as above.

Verdict: Super tasty! Super moist! Delicious. Warm. Perfect. We soon ran out of words to describe them. We savoured each bite, filled with different tastes of cranberries, lemon peel, nuts, and the sweet batter.

As for the Amish friendship starter, it sure is weaving friendships all across blogosphere. Jai and Bee's special way of sending the batter moved me to tears. For a minute I wondered why did these people send me so much love? They hardly know me. But then I smiled and thought, there are still some people who go out of thier way to treat others special.

Passing the starter: I am passing this starter to:

Shilpa: For her enthusiasm in baking and taking her decorating skills to a new level.

Sharmi: For doing an excellent job with the JFI: Rice round-up.

To a local friend B who loves cooking and baking.

To my Wilton cake decorating class instructor, Veronica for being an excellent guide and mentor:)

Fellow blogger's outstanding experiments with the Amish Friendship starter:

If you have baked something using the Amish starter, please leave a comment in this post and I will update the list.

Fodnicha Bhaat

2007-09-17T14:21:00.000-04:00

What would you do with a bowl of leftover rice? Would you throw it or make a simple stir fried rice that will be ready in 10 minutes but taste great?

Fodnicha bhaat is one of my favorite rice dishes. Aai used to make it when she would be bored of eating leftover rice alone. Of course, we wouldn't touch the rice being averse to all leftover items. So, mom used to add an onion make the rice spicy.

Fodni is a simple tempering of mustard, asafetida, and turmeric powder added to the rice. You can use the same method to make Fodnichi Poli or Fodnicha Bread by substituting cooked rice with chapati pieces or bread crumbs.

I usually don't make this rice as I seldom have any leftover rice. During weekdays, we make 1 cup rice and 1 cup daal and this suffices us for around 2 days. If ever there is any leftover rice, I simply mix it with some puliogare paste. Mom had made Fodnicha bhaat during our recent India trip and P liked it so much that he made me cook it on a weekend.

Fodnicha bhaat/ Stir fried rice
Serves:3
Ready in: 15 minutes (if you are using left-over rice)

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked rice (left over or fresh)

4 green chillies - washed and chopped fine

10-15 curry leaves - washed

1 small onion - chopped fine

1 tsp mustard seeds

Pinch of asafetida

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp red chilli powder

Method:

Separate the rice in a plate. Add salt to taste and 1/4 tsp red chilli powder in the rice and mix well.

Heat oil in a pan over medium flame. Add 1 tsp mustard seeds, and once they splutter, add asafetida and 1/2 tsp turmeric.

Next, add the green chillies and curry leaves. Fry for around 30 secs. Add the chopped onion and fry till it turns light brown.

Add the rice and mix together all the ingredients. Cover and cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes. Serve hot.

You can add leftover vegetables in this rice to make Mixed Vegetable Stir Fried Rice. Serve with raita or plain yogurt.

Farasbi Harbhare bhaji

2007-09-10T22:35:00.000-04:00

Some vegetables have no taste of their own, or they are really bland. No matter how many spices you add in them, they still remain bland.

For me and my hubby, Farasbi/French beans tops this "bland taste" list. I buy french beans in minimal quantity and use it in pav bhaji, kadhai vegetable, or rice dishes. However, my mom makes a unique combo using this veggie. She combines them with harbhare/black chana and spices them up with coconut, coriander mix. I remember my colleagues complimenting its taste and uniqueness whenever I carried it in my lunch box.

Since the time I have started blogging, I have pestered my mom for several recipes at odd times. I catch her online on Yahoo messenger alternate days, and almost every week there's a recipe request either for a blog event or for increasing my blog posts. Our conversation goes like this:
Me: Mom, tell me the recipe for Farasbi Harbhare vegetable.
Mom: Soak harbhare overnight.
Me: How much?
Mom: Approximately.
Me: What does approximately mean? Tell me, how much should I take to serve 2 people?
Mom: About 1/2 cup.
Me: ok..Then?
Mom: The next day, wash and cut farasbi. Cook both farasbi and harbhare in a pressure cooker.
Me: Hmmm..ok..(Frantically, noting all her instructions in a Word doc or Notepad, ignoring all the spelling mistakes).
Mom: Make a tempering and add vegetables to it. Next, add red chilli powder, salt, garam masala. (She's dictating all this at a super fast speed.)
Me: Go slow, go slow. And repeat the last sentence. How much red chilli and garam masala?
Mom: Andaje.. (meaning approximately)
Me: Aai, I told you "approximately" won't work. I don't want to mess up the dish. Plus, I want to post the recipe on my blog. I can't tell my readers to use approximate spices..They will stop visiting my blog.
Mom: (after much pondering)..Ok..Around 1/4 spoon red chilli, 1 tsp garam masala.
Me: Fine. Tell me the rest of the recipe.

And so, mom dictates the rest with some halts and questions from me. She uses a spicy mixture called 'vatan' in Marathi to spice up this dish. Here's a detailed recipe:

Farasbi Harbhare bhaji/French beans with black chickpeas

Method:

Soak 1/2 cup black chickpeas in double the quantity of water, overnight.
The next day, wash and cut the french beans in 1 inch pieces. You should have 1 cup of cut french beans.
Drain the water from the soaked black chickpeas.
Pressure cook the chickpeas and french beans for 2 whistles. You can either cook them together or in separate containers. Once cooked, drain the water and keep aside.
Add 1/4 cup shredded coconut, 2-3 green chillies, and 10-12 coriander sprigs in a mixer/blender. Add water and blend into a paste. This is the spicy mixture or 'vatan' for the vegetable.
Heat oil in a pan over medium flame. Make a tempering using 1 tsp mustard seeds, pinch of asafetida, and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder.
Add the cooked french beans and chickpeas. Mix together.
Next, add 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, salt to taste, 1 tsp garam masala, 1/4 tsp sugar, and 4 tsp peanut powder. Mix well.
Add the spicy paste made in step 5.
Add around 1/4 cup of water and mix again. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes.

Verdict: When I chatted with mom again, I told her the outcome of the vegetable. We loved it. We will be making this combo again and again. Do give it a try and enjoy its unique taste.

RCI Orissa round-up

2007-09-02T16:18:00.000-04:00

Many thanks to all the enthusiastic participants for sending such lovely entries for RCI: Orissa and thanks to Lakshmi for giving me the oppurtunity to host this event. Most of you (including me) had no idea about Orissa cuisine, but we all took great efforts to dig up some mouth-watering recipes. Sincere apologies from me for not replying to all your mails. This was partly because of my India trip and mostly because some mails landed up in my Spam folder. All those who will be hosting blog events in the future, please remember to check your Spam folder from time to time so that you don't miss any entries. (Updated: I had missed out Cinnamon's and Priyanka's beautiful entries in the round-up. Check it out in the Besara, Mitha, and Meals section.)

A little information about Orissa cuisine before we move to the round-up. Orissa cuisine can be broadly divided into the following categories:

Rice or bhata: comprises of khichdi, jeera rice, and other rice dishes.
Roti: covers the famous luchis made using all purpose flour, puris, and chakuli (a type of dosa made using rava, maida, and besan)
Pitha: These are mostly prepared using rice flour, suji, sugar, or jaggery. Pithas are made by stuffing a sweet mixture into rice balls and then steaming them (just like the modaks). Pithas are prepared during all Orissa festivals and poojas.
Dali: These curries are made using toor daal or chana daal and an abundance of spices. The famous dalis include Dalma and Chana dali.
Bhaja: This is the stir-fried method of cooking vegetables.
Tarkari: These gravy vegetables are made using individual or a combination of vegetables mixed with spices. Famous curries include Ghuguni, Jahni Posta, and Alu Posta.
Khatta: These sweet and sour condiments complete an Orissa meal. Khajur (dates) khatta, dahi nadia, and tomato khatta are some well-known khatta types.
Non-veg items: are made using mutton or fish and served in the form of curry.
Besara: These vegetable curries are made using a base of mustard paste and panch phoron or panch phutan. Panch phutan is a unique mixture of 5 spices - mustard (rai), fenugreek(methi), fennel (saunf), cumin (jeera), and nigella (kalonji). These spices are dry roasted and ground to a powder and used in vegetable preparations.
Mitha: Famous Oriya sweets include Rasgolla and Chena Kheeri.

While most of us explored the Bhata, Roti, Dali, Tarkari, Khatta, Besara, and Mitha categories of Orissa cuisine, we did not explore the Pitha category. Ghuguni, Dalma, and Aloo Posta were clearly the favorites.

I have divided your entries into categories based on the type of dish and the snaps you sent me. Here's presenting RCI: Orissa round-up.

Dali

Dalma : Sra of When my soup came alive

Dalma: Manasi of A cook at heart

Dalma: Sheela of Delectable Victuals

Khatta and Bhaja

Dahi Nadia: Raaga of The Singing Chef

Aloo posta: Suma of Veggie Platter

Alu Posta and Khajur Khatta: Madhuli of My Foodcourt

Begun bhaja: Meenakshi from her Yahoo blog

Bhendi Masala: Mandira of Ahaar

Palette in pastels: Sra of When my soup came alive

Jahni Alu Posto: Aarti of Aarti's Corner

Mashed potatoes with Oriya flair: Nupur of One Hot Stove

Besara and Tarakari

Bhanda gobi khofta curry: Roopa of My Chow Chow Bhaath

Cabbage curry: Nags of For the cook in me

Dahi Baigana: Musical from Musical's kitchen

Ghuguni: Madhu of Ruchi

Ghuguni: Suma of Veggie Platter

Ghuguni: Jyothi of Andhra spicy

Jahni alu rye: Sajeda of Chachi's Kitchen

Saru Besara: Musical from Musical's Kitchen

Phul Gobi do Piaji: Roopa of My Chow Chow Bhaath

(Updated: I had missed out Cinnamon's beautiful entry in the round-up. Check it out.)
Chhatu Besara: Cinnamon of Cinnamon Trial

Non-veg items

Machha Besara :Sandeepa of Bong Mom's Cookbook

Goat curry aka Mangso Tarkari: Pragyan of Cooking at Pragyan's

Rotis

Luchi with ghuguni : Prema of My cookbook

Luchi: Suma of Veggie Platter

Luchis with Dalma and Anda Saga Rai: Asha of Foodie's Hope

Chana Dali & Piaj Sag Bhaja with Luchi: Sia of Spice Corner

Bhata

Vegetable Khichadi: Roopa of My Chow Chow Bhaath

Jeera Pakhala: Swapna of Swad

Jeera Rice: Nags of For the cook in me

Orissa Kichdi: Kajal of Kajal Dreams

Tomato rice Oriya style: Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons

Mitha

Rice Pudding: Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi

Rasgulla: Aarti of Aarti's Corner

Nadiya Kheer: Archana of Tried & Tested Recipes

Chena Kheeri: Asha of Foodie's Hope

(Updated: This was missed out earlier.)
Rasabali: Priyanka of Lajawaab

Oriya Meals

Oriya Thali: Sharmi of Neivedyam. Her thali comprises of Dalchini Palau, Phulcobi Do Piaji, Channa Dal, Bhat Payasa, and Puris.

Oriya thali: Linda of Out of the garden presents her special Orissa thali complete with Kolatha Dali, Mushroom Besara, Summer Squash Rai, and Dahi Ke Baigan.

Oriya meal: Hima of SnackORama presents an Orissa meal containing Khichdi, Coconut chutney, Whole brinjal fry.

The Cooker's oriya meal comprises of Tomato-Khajur Khatta and Jhanni Posta.

(Updated: This was missed out earlier.)

Oriya meal: Priyanka's Orissa meal contains Alu-Potal Rasa, Chana Dali, Luchi, and Rasabali.

Hope you all enjoyed this round-up. If I have left out any entry, please mail me and I will update the round-up. Have a great weekend!

Announcing AFAM-September

2007-08-30T19:08:00.000-04:00

After the parade of Banana, Strawberry, Pineapple, Apple, Mango, Orange, Watermelons, and Lychee, it's time for Grapes. I know I had given chickoo as another option, but the clusters of grapes and its recipes sounded more welcoming.

AFAM (A Fruit A Month) is a lovely event started by Maheshwari and it's my turn to host it this month. Thanks Maheshwari!

Grapes or angur as they are called in Hindi are sweet and sour (khatte-meethe) in taste. They are a rich source of Vitamin C and anti oxidants.

Use any type of grapes such as blue, black, green, red, purple, etc. to create your dish. If you are confused about what to make for AFAM, check out http://www.honeyflowfarm.com/graperecipes.htm. It has a plethora of recipes. Use grapes in your salads, entice us with some grape desserts, or bid farewell to the summer with some grape cocktails. The choice is yours. The rules for AFAM are simple.

Prepare a dish using grapes and blog about it in the month of September.
Include a link to this announcement and feel free to use this logo.

(This logo was created by using an image found on Wiki. To save it on your machine, right-click the image, select Save Picture As..., and save to the desired location on your PC.)

Send an e-mail to swaps1@gmail.com (swaps1ATgmailDOTCOM) with the following information: (Also leave a comment in this message with the link to your entry.)
a. Subject line: AFAM September
b. Your name
c. Your blog name
d. Name of the dish
e. Picture of the dish in 400X400 pixels.
(Please send your entries in the mentioned format as it will be easier for me to compile the entries in the round-up)
You can participate even if you don't have a blog. Just mail me your recipe, all the above details, and the picture of the dish and I will include it in the round-up.
The last day for submitting your entries is 25th September.

Pop some grapes in your mouth as you create wonderful dishes using them. Awaiting all your sweet and sour entries!

Jeera Pakhala

2007-08-25T22:11:00.001-04:00

It's been so hot here the last couple of days that I have spent very little time in the kitchen. I returned from India last weekend and since then I have felt dehydrated. The temperatures are soaring and so are our electricity bills. It's impossible to survive without the AC.

All the week long, I was playing with options for RCI. I could have easily made something in India, but then I was busy eating "mom ke haath ka khana":). I was in no mood to start complicated cooking and was looking for a simple recipe. Finally, I hit the jackpot. Jeera Pakhala is a simple rice preparation with the flavors of shaha jeera and curry leaves. The curry leaves add a unique taste to the rice.

Jeera Pakhala

Adapted from this recipe.

Wash 1 cup rice. Cook the rice in a pressure cooker. Once done, spread it on a plate and let cool.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 3 whole red chillies and saute for a minute. Next add 2 tsp kala (shaha) jeera. Once it splutters, add 12-15 curry leaves. Fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add the cooked rice and salt to taste.
Cover and cook on low flame for 5 minutes.
Serve when cool.

This is my entry for RCI: Orissa. I will post RCI: Orissa round-up next weekend. A big THANKS to everyone who participated in this event. It means a lot to me. For all those who missed this RCI, the next one's at Foodie's Hope hosted by dear Asha.

I also realized that there are few Maharashtrian dishes on which I have blogged. In the near future, Swad will show case some easy, complicated, authentic Maharashtrian dishes. Stay tuned!

Reminder RCI: Orissa

2007-08-22T16:57:00.000-04:00

Friends,

Only 3 days are left to submit your entries for RCI Oriya. The last date for submitting entries is 25th August.

I am back from India after my short vacation. We had a great time with family and friends.

I will be hosting AFAM: September. So, please send me your ideas for the same. I am thinking about grapes or chikoo.

Announcing RCI

2007-07-25T12:17:00.000-04:00

I kept reminding myself that I have to announce the RCI event this month. My worst fear was that I would somehow forget announcing and Lakshmi and my fellow bloggers would ban me from the blog world for such a horrible mistake:))

A small announcement: I am going to India for a short 3 weeks vacation. We are leaving tomorrow and I am very, very excited:)

This is the first time I am hosting a blog event. So, I am nervous, excited, thrilled, and worried at the same time. Lakshmi has given me this wonderful chance to host the event and I am thankful to her for the same. Out of all the delicious and varied cuisines of India, I chose...

Orissa cuisine

Lying on the East coast of India, this state has been blessed with a coastline. Bhubaneswar is the capital of Oriya. Orissa is famous as a tourist location mainly for the beautiful temples such as Jagannatha and Sun temples. Read more about Orissa here.

Read the details about RCI and rules for participation:

What is RCI?: The Regional Cuisines of India is a monthly blog event started by Lakshmi. It's Lakshmi's baby and we all are taking turns to take care of the baby. The host chooses the cuisine from the ethnic Indian cuisines and bloggers have to come up with dishes cooked from that cuisine.

How do you participate?: Write a post featuring any dish related to the Oriya cuisine. Include a link to this post and the RCI logo in your post.

What do I cook for RCI Oriya, I know nothing about it: Well, you are not alone. RCI gives you a great opportunity to explore a new cuisine every month. To know more about the Oriya cuisine, check Wiki and sites such as this, this, and this. You can also refer to cookbooks such as Purba: Feasts From The East by Laxmi Parida or Healthy Oriya Cuisine by Bijoylaxmi Hota. For all of you who are Orkut members, you can find loads of recipes in the Oriya Delicacies community. Fellow bloggers have already experimented with Oriya cuisine and come up with dishes such as Jahni Alu Posta, Luchi aur Aloor Dom, and Shrimp with Opo Squash.

My friend staying in a nearby building is from Oriya. Her in-laws are visiting from India and I thought I would get some first-hand information from them about Oriya cuisine. The sad part was that her mom-in-law could not speak or understand Hindi. So, we set about my interview by me asking my friend questions in Hindi, she translating to her MIL in Oriya, her MIL replying back in Oriya, and S translating back in Hindi. Meanwhile, I was furiously scribbling all this information in my notebook for fear of forgetting it. Here's what I learned about Oriya cuisine:

Swapna: What kind of dishes are famous in Oriya cuisine?
S: Oriya cuisine is famous for a variety of vegetables and daals. We also use rice flour and urad daal in a lot of dishes. We make different kinds of dosas called chakuli pittha.

Swapna: What kind of spices are used in this cuisine?
S: We use mustard seeds paste to make some vegetables. Almost all the spices are roasted and ground to a fine powder. We also use poppy seeds and panch phoron in a lot of dishes.

Swapna: How would you define an Oriya breakfast?
S: A typical Oriya breakfast consists of upma, plain parathas, stuffed idli (using coconut and jaggery stuffing), rice appam (chittau), or sweet sheera.

Swapna:What does a typical Oriya lunch consists of?
S: Vegetables such as santuda or palak saag, plain rice, tomato pickle (khatta), dalma, rotis (without ghee), papad, raita, and daal. We mostly use moong daal for making daal. Oriya cuisine has some interesting raita recipes. Raitas can be made using combination of curd with any of the following - cauliflower, okhra, coconut (nadia pachedi), and brinjal. Pickles are another area where we experiment with different fruits and vegetables. Famous pickles from our cuisine are made using mango, drumstick, jackfruit, tomato, and pineapple.

Swapna: What are Oriya dessert specials?
S: Rice kheer, sweet boondi, sankarpala. Majority of the sweets are made using combination of daal and rice/rice flour.

Swapna: What do you cook during fasts (upvaas)?
S: Everything is cooked in ghee. No onion or garlic is used in any of the dishes. However, ginger can be used. We make lot of pittha varieties for upvaas.

Well, I am sure you have a lot of information after reading this.

How to send entries?: Mail me your entries at swaps1@gmail.com (swaps1ATgmailDOTCOM)with the subject "RCI: Oriya". Include the following in your mail: 1. Your name 2. URL to your post 3. Name of the dish 4. A picture of your dish in 400X400 pixels.

When is the last date for sending entries?: The last date for sending entries is 25th August, 2007.

What about the round-up?: Well, what about it?:) I will be posting the round-up asap. I will need your support in posting a timely round-up, which means no late entries.

I am going to have a fantastic time hosting this event and you are going to have a fantastic time exploring the Oriya cuisine. So, start reading, surfing, or asking friends for authentic Orissa recipes. Have fun!

Matar Paneer

2007-07-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

RCI is a monthly blog event focusing on various Indian cuisines. The cuisine this month is Punjabi and Richa is hosting it at As dear as salt.

A funny thing happened with me the other day. We had been to an Indian restaurant and while browsing through the menu I realized I had made all the dishes at home. Palak paneer, Alu palak, Punjabi chole, Paneer jalfrezi..the list went on and on and for the first time in my life I felt like my mom. Mom would say it's useless to waste so many rupees on a simple dish in a restaurant when we can make it at home and it's much healthy too. Back then we used to get irritated when mom said this. We said "Zala hicha suru (she's started again)".

As a teenager, I was obsessed with eating out. Most of the times eating out would be =Punjabi food. However, we used to end up ordering the same dishes again and again. Thinking back I realize that most of the veggies would be stale and there would be a heavy ghee layer floating in it. For RCI, I made one of my favorite Punjabi sabzi.

Matar Paneer/Green peas with cottage cheese

Serves:4

Ingredients

1 tbsp ghee
1 inch cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 onion - chopped fine
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tbsp cashew pieces
2 tomatoes - cut into huge chunks
Salt to taste
1 cup fresh green peas or frozen peas (thawed)
1 packet fried paneer (about 230 gm)
1 tbsp whipped cream or malai

Method

Soak the paneer in water for 10-15 minutes. Puree the tomatoes along with the cashew pieces.
Heat ghee in a pan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and bay leaf. Fry for a minute.
Add the chopped onion and the ginger garlic paste. Fry till the onion turns light brown.
Add all the powders from 9 to 12. Fry for a minute.
Next, add the tomato-cashew puree and salt to taste. Mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes (till the mixture thickens).
Add the peas and 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil.
Add the whipped cream and paneer cubes. Mix well taking care that you don't break the paneer cubes.
Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

This one turned out super-tasty. It went into our favorites list. Be sure to try it out!

Xploring Kohlrabi

2007-07-21T16:57:00.000-04:00

I wanted to try Kohlrabi ever since I read about it in Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. She has described this vegetable wonderfully. Kohlrabi, or gant-gobi as it is called in India, belongs to the cabbage family. The bottom part is turnip shaped while the top part consists of green leaves. The kohlrabi head should be peeled before cooking.

I found Kohlrabi in the organic section of Kroger and decided to explore it for Nupur's A-Z series. Peeling the head took quite some effort and I found it very difficult to cut it. P helped me in the cutting and chopping. Be very careful while cutting this vegetable as it has a hard cover.

Spicy kohlrabi stew with tomatoes

Serves:4 to 6

Ingredients

6 kohlrabi heads

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds

Pinch of asafetida

4 dried whole red chillies

5 medium tomatoes chopped fine

1/2 cup tomato puree

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp sugar

Method

Cut off about 1/8 of each kohlrabi at the bottom end. Peel the rest and cut into chunky quarters.

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.

Put in the cumin seeds and after they splutter, add the asafetida and red chillies. Stir briefly till the chillies turn dark red.

Add the kohlrabi and stir 2-3 times.

Add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, 1/2 cup water, salt to taste, and sugar. Stir and bring to a boil.

Cover and cook on low heat for 30-35 minutes. The kohlrabi should be tender once cooked.

Serve hot with rotis or rice.

Verdict: I was lucky to have been introduced to this veggie. I am going to try new recipes with it.

Me, Myself, Swapna

2007-07-19T14:19:00.000-04:00

My friend Tee has tagged me for a meme in which I have to reveal 7 facts about myself. I love writing memes. Here I go:

I can never light a match stick in the first attempt. In India, my Mom and bro used to stand and watch while I patiently tried lighting a match stick while doing the pooja. After the first 2-3 attempts, they used to start counting 5..8,..12..15.. 25..By this time, I would have broken at least 2-3 matchsticks and reached the height of frustration. My match-stick lighting skills have improved considerably in the US.

In India, I detested and stayed as far away from cooking as possible. I never entered the kitchen. Rarely, I made poha or pulao either to please my parents or to momentarily stop my mom's nagging. Read all about my cooking history here. It was only after I came to the US that I developed a liking for cooking. The sad part is my parents have not eaten a full, decent meal cooked by me. I am waiting to go back to India and cook something special for them.

I am a very organized person. I make lists for everything. There's a shopping list, a things to do list, a weekly menu, a things to read list, monthly expenses sheet, and so on. I like to keep things where they are. This habit is sometimes the focus of our fights, as my husband does not keep his shoes in the rack, does not keep things where they are supposed to be.

My father is the only person in this world whom I am really scared of. Even now, if he raises his voice and looks at me angrily, I start crying. Of course, I am scared of going to the dentist too. I have a very funny dentist in India. She talks non-stop. I mean there you are sitting with pain in your tooth and she would inquire about what class her daughter should attend in 10th std (her daughter wud be in 5th std then).

I love sleeping:). I used to sleep for 10-12 hours even in the 10th and 12th standards. Thank God, I didn't sleep during the exams. It's not that I have hypersomnia; it's just that I like cuddling up, sleeping, and dreaming. When mom used to wake me up, I used to mumble that I would get up after 5 minutes. If I was too sleepy, I would just point 5 fingers and sleep again:)At times I have told "Sleeping" as one of my hobbies. Whenever I meet someone who lectures me about sleeping too much, I lecture them about sleep debt and so on:)

I have no sense of make-up and color. I used to wear very dull and light-colored clothes. I used to wear florescent blue or green nail polish that even my male friends in college would frown upon. Until 3 years back, I thought that mascara is some form of undergarment. Whenever I saw any girl looking good with perfectly matched clothes, make-up, bangles, and accessories, I used to wonder why I couldn't be like that. After I started working, I used to observe a lot of people and gradually improved my dressing sense:)

I am a voracious reader. I read books on any subject - fiction, non-fiction, inspirational books, cookbooks, interior decoration books. I read for hours and hours. In India, I used to keep a little light on and read till the wee hours of the morning. My dad used to get up and tell me to sleep and I would tell him that I would sleep in 5 minutes, which used to end up as one hour. I believe that books are man's (in my case woman's) best friends.

I am tagging Sandeepa, Swapna, and Mandira. Please participate only if you can.

Preserving the love for pickles

2007-07-17T22:35:00.000-04:00

This week I am going to present 3 entries for 3 different blog events;the first one being MBP. Every month Coffee chooses a theme and bloggers have to try fellow blogger's recipes based on the chosen theme. This month's theme is Preserve it.

PICKLES - the very word flashes images of raw mangoes hanging from trees, pickle bottles containing a heavy oil layer, the "khatta meetha" taste of different pickles, the summers when mom made heavenly pickles, and then suffering from cough after eating too much pickle:)
Every summer, Mom would make pickles without fail. She used to buy kilos and kilos of raw mangoes and spend an entire day in washing, peeling, and making the pickle. Though I am a die hard fan of pickle, the very thought of mom getting tired would make me deter her from the task. My only contribution in the pickle making process would be to convince mom to make a smaller quantity and then eat as much pickle as I could. I and Dad would hardly wait till the juices had settled in. We would taste the pickle the very next day. Being a cook who has just mastered some vegetables and chapati, I had not ventured into the area of pickle making. That changed since I saw this.

After seeing Manisha's recipe, I have been returning to the post to see the wonderful picture and drool over it. I was waiting for the right time and enthusiasm to try my hand at pickle making. Coffee's MBP presented the perfect opportunity to make lemon pickle. I used 3 lemons to make this pickle and half the ingredients. 3 days after I made it, the pickle looks like this.

(Lemon pickle without oil)

Manisha says that it takes 2 long months for the pickle to be ready. It's a long wait for me. Meanwhile, P keeps checking Manisha's post to confirm that she has written 2 months and it's not one of my ploys to keep him away from eating it. Thanks Manisha for this wonderful recipe!

Capsicum Masala

2007-07-14T13:17:00.000-04:00

When you stay away from home, friends become family. In fact, they become everything - neighbours, guides, mentors, relatives, and critics. You try to search for familiar relations in their faces, and someone looks like your sister, brother, or aunt. We have been in the US for almost a year now. Having never been away from home, it was tough for me to adjust at first. But then I started surviving with the help of so many friends staying nearby.

The apartment complex where we stay is home to many Indians. There are approximately 35-40 Indians staying in our complex. These people work in the same organization, take the same bus to office, and eat their lunch together. I have known most of them having worked in the same organization earlier. We all are pretty close-knit family. We spend some weekends playing UNO, going for bowling, or visiting each other. One such tradition that we have here is inviting people for dinner either to know them better, or cook something special for close friends, or treat farewell when they are going back to India.

Our dear friends P and S had invited us for dinner sometime back. P took loads of efforts and almost spent the entire day cooking. Amongst the plethora of dishes she had cooked, Capsicum Masala was one that we had not eaten before. Now, my husband is not a capsicum fan, whereas I love capsicum in all forms - I even eat it raw:). I am always trying new methods for hubby to like capsicum. Luckily, he liked this vegetable at the dinner party. So I whisked the recipe from P and made it at home.

Capsicum Masala

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 green peppers (capsicums) - washed and chopped into chunks
2 medium onions - sliced thin
2 tomatoes - washed and chopped roughly
1 tsp oil
1 tbsp crushed peanut powder
1 tbsp cashew pieces
1 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Method

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan over medium flame. Add the sliced onions and fry till the onions turn light brown.
Add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes turn soft.
Add the peanut powder and cashew pieces. Fry for 3-4 minutes.
Transfer the above mixture in a blender and blend till it's a smooth paste. Add 1/4 cup water.
Heat a pan and add the above paste to it. Stir for 2-3 minutes.
Next, add 1 tsp garam masala, salt to taste, and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Mix well and cook for 5-6 minutes.
Add the chopped capsicum and mix. Cover cooked on low heat till the capsicum cooks. This should take around 15 minutes.
Turn off the heat and serve hot with rotis/parathas/puris.

Verdict: We fell in love with this sabzi. In fact, P who's not a great fan of capsicums, appreciated something made from capsicums for the first time:)The gravy turned out superb. We decided that we could use the same gravy with other veggies such as peas, cauliflower, brinjals, and paneer.

Strawberry Coldsweet

2007-07-09T17:36:00.000-04:00

Have you ever plucked a strawberry from a tree and popped it straight in your mouth? I have. We had been to Huber farm 2 weeks back. This farm grows fruits and vegetables as per the season and offers free u-pick and eat. We visited the farm for strawberry season. There is a tractor that takes you to the farm. I had never seen a strawberry bush before and was amazed to see rows and rows of small strawberry bushes. All you have to do is start plucking and eating. Eat as many as you can and buy the rest of the berries.

I and P decided to compete each other. We started plucking the best strawberries and decided we will count who has the maximum ones and declare him as the winner. Cheater as I am, I tried to pick a couple from P's box when he was not looking. Unfortunately, he caught me red-handed and became "extra-alert" at his task. Left with no means, I hurriedly picked as many as I could. During all this exercise, we ate the plumiest and tastiest of berries. At the end of the competition, I was declared the winner with 96 berries:)

We even tasted some strawberry wine at the local winery. Well, after the trip we were left with some 150 berries and even after we distributed some among friends, there were still a lot of berries that we were clueless what to do with all of them. We soon got bored of substituting the evening tea with strawberry milkshake. That's when I found this simple recipe in a book. This recipe solved my "berry consumption" problem and the results turned out fantastic.

Strawberry Coldsweet
Serves: 3

Ingredients

2 cups strawberries
1/2 cup whipped cream
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

Method

Wash and cut all strawberries into half.
Combine orange juice, vanilla essence, sugar, and strawberries in a bowl. Chill this in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
When the mixture is chilled, add beaten whipped cream. Mix together and serve chilled.

Verdict: This effortless dessert is a crowd pleasure. You might want to go easy on the vanilla essence as it adds a strong taste to the dessert.

Danyachi Amti

2007-07-03T22:40:00.000-04:00

I don't keep regular fasts; it's impossible for me to spend entire days eating nothing. More importantly, you have to continuously watch yourself before popping anything in your mouth. That's so difficult. Open the cabinet, see the pack of chips, stuff some in your mouth. There goes your fast down the drain. Last year, I did something very bad. I was fasting for Mahashivratri and had spent the entire day on fruits. I met my to-be-hubby in the evening and enjoyed a plate of bhel with him:((. I had completely forgotten that I was fasting. Oh God, forgive me! So, it's more from the fear of breaking fasts that I don't do many.

However, there are a couple of fasts that I keep and abide by. There have been a couple of additions to the list since I got married. Last Saturday was Vata Pournima. Maharashtrian ladies pray for their husband's long life and request God that they get the same husband for 7 more life times. Of course, you put this request only if your husband behaves the way you want him to:) The pooja is done by walking around a banyan tree and tying a thread around it. Banyan trees are not available in the US. So, I did my own kind of pooja by taking a print-out of a banyan tree and praying to it. This day also calls for a full-day fast. Now, I consider fasts as an excellent oppurtunity to eat my favorite items such as sabudana khichadi. Last Saturday, I made sabudana khichadi and my favorite curry - Danyachi Amti. The curry is a Maharashtrain upvaas special.

Danyachi Amti/Peanut curry

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
For the curry
1. 1 cup ground, roasted peanut powder
2. 1 cup water
3. Salt to taste
4. 1/8 tsp tamarind pulp
5. 3 green chillies chopped fine
6. 1/2 tsp sugar
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth. Heat a pan on medium flame. Transfer the curry to the pan and boil for 5-6 minutes. Stir frequently.

For the tempering:
Heat another pan and add 1 tsp ghee to it. Next, add 1 tsp cumin seeds and a pinch of asafetida. When the cumin seeds splutter, add this tempering to the above curry and mix well.
Serve hot with sabudana khichadi or varichi khichadi.

A taste of my homeland

2007-06-25T23:55:00.000-04:00

A famous Marathi song goes on these lines, “Arre sansar sansar, jasa tava chulyavara, aadhi hatala chatake, tevha milate bhakar”. Loosely translated this means, “Oh, the burdens of supporting a family are like a pan on a hot stove, you won’t get bread unless you burn your hands”. Marathi friends please ignore this futile attempt at a translation:)

Maharashtra: the land that produces rice, sugarcane, cotton, jowar, bajra, wheat, maize, and several other crops. And who produces these crops? None other than the farmers, toiling hard under the sun’s rays to provide us grains and food. They live a simple life and often find it difficult to eat and provide everyday meals to their families. Their day to day worries include rains, drought, and farm fires. Sadly, the farmers are in focus these days owing to their high suicide rates.

As a tribute to all the farmers and to celebrate RCI: Maharashtra, I made zunka-bhakar. Zunka is a spicy, dry gravy made using besan, whereas bhakar is an Indian flat bread. Bhakri can be made using jowar, bajra, or rice flour or a combination of these. Zunka Bhakar is a farmer’s meal. You must have seen numerous Marathi movies in which the farmer’s wife visits her husband on the field. She carries with her a staple meal of zunka, bhakri, mirchicha thecha (crushed green chillies), and kanda (onion). To the farmer, this meal would taste much better than any of the meals offered by 5-star restaurants. He will feel content, happy, and energetic on eating this meal. To add to it, bhakris are very healthy and filling.

I have a distinct memory of eating zunka-bhakar. When I was a kid, we had visited Pratapgad. The fort climbing and the cool weather made us terribly hungry. On the fort top, there was a family who were selling zunka-bhakar. They were making fresh hot bhakris in front of us and we would ask for more after the first one got over. Now, bhakris are really very filling and that lady was making the biggest bhakris ever. But they tasted so good with the zunka that we kept on eating more. She served chilled buttermilk to end a perfect meal. That was one helluva satisfying meal that I would never forget in my entire life.

This was the first time I made zunka and bhakri. I followed the recipe for zunka from here, just took less ingredients to serve 2.

Zunka

1.Heat a pan and dry roast the besan for 8 minutes on low flame. The besan will turn light pink and send out a beautiful aroma. Turn off the heat.
2.Chop one small onion and one small tomato. Also chop 2 green chillies and 2 garlic flakes.
3.Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add ½ tsp mustard seeds and ¼ tsp cumin seeds. Wait till they splutter and then add green chillies, curry leaves, and chopped garlic. Once the garlic changes color (to light brown), add the chopped onions. Fry till the onions turn golden brown.
4.Add tomato and cook till it turns soft. Now, add besan, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ¼ tsp red chilli powder, salt, and ½ cup water. Stir and check that no lumps are formed.
5.Cook for 5 minutes and serve hot.

The zunka turned out fabulous. However, I faced loads of trouble while making the bhakris. They kept cracking at edges. Still, it was my first attempt and I am hoping to improve. I just could not make large bhakris. So, I and P had to settle for mini-bhakris.

Bhakris

1.Take 2 cups jowar (makes around 6 mini bhakris), add ¼ tsp salt, 1 tsp oil to it. Add water and make dough just the way you make for chapattis.

2.Heat a pan.

3.Take a big ball of dough and roll out the dough just the way you do while making chapattis. Sprinkle jowar flour to ease the rolling process.

4.Put the bhakri on the pan. Take some water and gently spread it on the bhakri. Cook for 2 minutes.

5.Flip on the other side and cook for 2 more minutes. Turn over again till there are brown spots on both sides.

6.Serve hot with zunka, onions, green chillies, and buttermilk. Bhakris can be alternately served with Pithala.

The next time you eat your meal, thank the farmer who supplied it. Jay Maharashtra!

Vegetable Pulao

2007-06-22T20:26:00.000-04:00

We are soon approaching the end of our A-Z vegetables journey and I take this opportunity for the letter “V” to present my favorite supper. Indian food is diverse and the combination of dishes one can cook using vegetables is humongous. While an amateur cook struggles and learns the basics of cooking different vegetables, a daring cook experiments with different dishes and tries new vegetables. It becomes a matter of challenge, enthusiasm, and passion for cooking to go ahead and try stuffed parathas, Indo- Chinese dishes, soups, and pizzas. My favorite always has and always will be experimenting with rice dishes.

I love the results that rice and vegetable combos turn out. The simple addition of tomato and cilantro add a whole new flavor to Tomato Rice. Egg slices and spices produce spicy, flavorful Egg Pilaf. Though I have not made the famous Wangi Bhaat, I have tasted and loved it. A bunch of different veggies clubbed with Chinese sauces gives rise to everyone’s favorite Fried Rice. While these veggie-rice combos are easy to put together, there are other varieties that include time, effort, and loads of patience to try out. Top in the category are Vegetable Pulao and Biryani. Cutting vegetables is the most time consuming task; once done, it’s as good as half of the work been done. Whilst the pulao being a mixture of rice, vegetables, and pulao masala cook to perfection, the biryani is an intricate dish prepared using layers of vegetable gavy and saffron-flavored rice.

Aai (mom) often made vegetable pulao on Friday nights. It served three purposes – it gave her a welcome break from the usual chapatti bhaji, and it gave her a valid excuse to stuff our tummies with our not-so-favorite veggies. And of course, making pulao allows you to clean the fridge of all those itty bitty vegetables. The addition of saar would be “sone pe suhaga”. Now, I was a light eater in my teenage days and only such favorite suppers would turn me into a hungry hyena. I would/could/do consume at least 3-4 plates of vegetable pulao and saar. Check out the recipe.

Vegetable Pulao

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 1 ½ hour
For the masala:
After the success of metkut, my confidence in making home-made masalas has increased. This was one more attempt of making one such powder – the pulao masala. The source of the masala recipe is Annapoorna.

Grind together 2 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp shahi cumin seeds, 3-4 sticks of cinnamon (1 inch long), 5-6 cloves, 1 tsp cardamom powder, and 5-6 black peppers. The masala is ready. Make this just before making the rice, the fresh masala will add a splendid taste to the rice. The same masala can be used for masale bhaat and khichdi.

Ingredients for the pulao
1.1 ½ cups basmati rice (or any other long grained rice)
2.1 tbsp ghee (butter) for making pulao and 1 tsp for frying cashews
3.2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
4.3-4 cloves (lavanga)
5.2 pieces of 1 inch long cinnamon sticks (dalchini)
6.5-6 black peppers (meere)
7.2-3 bay leaves
8.1 large onion – sliced thin
9.½ cup cauliflower florets
10.¼ cup carrots – diced
11.¼ cup French beans – cut into 1 inch long pieces
12.½ cup green peas
13.1 tbsp cashew pieces
14.Salt to taste

Making the pulao
1.Wash the basmati rice in 3-4 changes of water. Add double the quantity of water (3 cups in this case). Microwave the rice for 12 minutes. We need half cooked rice and you can alternately pressure cook with less water. Once the rice is cooked, hold it under cold water. This will separate the rice grains and make them fluffy. Drain all the water and keep the rice aside.
2.Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan on low flame. Add 1 tbsp cashew pieces and fry till they turn light brown.
3.Heat a pan on medium flame. Add 1 tbsp ghee to it. Next, add cumin seeds, wait for them to splutter and then add bay leaves, black peppers, cloves, and cinnamon sticks. Fry for a minute.
4.Add the sliced onion and fry till the onion turns translucent. Now, add the carrots, cauliflower florets, peas, and french breans. Cover and cook on medium heat till all the vegetables are cooked. Stir the vegetables from time to time.
5.Add salt to taste and 2 tbsp of pulao masala (reduce the amount of masala for less spicier pulao). Mix well with the veggies. Add the fried cashews.
6.Add the rice cooked in step 1 and mix together. If you like loads of ghee in the pulao, add 1 tsp more at this stage. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes.
7.Serve hot with tomato saar, papad, raita, and pickle.

This pulao-saar combo is a great dish to serve guests at dinner parties. Don't skip the essential veggies such as cauliflower, peas, and carrots. You can add more veggies to clean your fridge or to force some in your naughty kid's tummy:) Enjoy!

Going lite on the tummy

2007-06-20T23:01:00.000-04:00

Phew! Coffee's theme for MBP this month was a much needed break from all the oily, sweet, or heavy food. While browsing through my fellow blogger's recipes for salads, raitas, soups or anything falling in the "lite" category, I stumbled upon this raita recipe. The Beetroot Tomato Cucumber raita recipe sounded like a must try. Vaishali's blog has a plethora of amazing recipes. She has tried out dishes using a variety of ingredients. So, why did I choose just this recipe?

A.I simply loved the vibrant colors of the beet and yoghurt mixed together.
B.I had all the ingredients in my pantry, except cucumbers. I skipped the cucumbers and coconut.
C. Beets are really low in calories. They offer N number of health benefits ranging from heart disease and cancer prevention, rich in nutrient proteins, blood purifier, and are a rich source of vitamin C.
D. There were 2 beets lying in the fridge from a long time. Hubby had purchased them and wanted to put them in sandwiches but the poor beets never caught his attention.
E. I had never cooked anything using beets since I came to the US.

Any variations?: Had to skip the cucumbers and followed the rest of the recipe as is.

Verdict: This raita turned out fabulous. I and P instantly fell in love with it. The peanuts add a nice, crunchy taste and the tempering adds a rich taste. We will be making this raita every time we get beets.

Thanks Vaishali for this fabulous recipe. And a big Thanks to Coffee for hosting MBP.

The ultimate comfort food – Metkut Bhaat

2007-06-18T16:47:00.000-04:00

(RCI is a blog event started by Lakshmi and hosted this month by Nupur. Every month, a different host chooses a cuisine from India and bloggers come up with mouth-watering dishes special from that cuisine. The cuisine of the month is Maharashtrian. This cuisine is dear to my heart for the obvious reasons.)

Imagine you are sick with fever or a sore throat. What would you like to eat? If I was posed this question, I would say, “Metkut Bhaat”.

It was not easy for me to decide what to make for RCI: Maharashtrian cuisine; I wanted the dish to be something very special and unique to me. So, when I started rewinding my favorite dishes since childhood, one dish topped the list. Metkut Bhaat Tup Loncha ani Limbachi fod has been my favorite since I was a kid. This is a Maharashtrian specialty and an ultimate comfort dish for all seasons. I think the love for metkut has been passed on from generations to generations.

Metkut is a simple powder; it’s a mixture of spices and daal. It has a smooth texture and spicy taste. I don’t exactly remember mom making this, but we sure used to purchase Bedekar special metkut a zillion times. When I would be down with fever, metkut bhaat would be the only dish I would eat. Of course, mom would make me skip the pickle, to which I would agree with a frown.

For me, discovering the recipe and making metkut at home was like discovering an age-old secret. Don’t you think that sometimes we are unaware how easy it is to make something and we keep getting it from stores? That’s what happened in this case. I would have never imagined making metkut is so easy. The best part is all the ingredients would be readily available in your pantry. Here goes the method for making this delicious spicy powder.

Metkut

(Adapted from Annapurna)

1.Heat a pan on medium flame. Add 1 cup harbhare (kala chana or black chickpeas), 1/2 cup rice, 1/2 cup urad daal, 3 tsp wheat flour. Fry till the udad daal becomes light brown. This would take around 8 minutes. You will know it is fine to turn off the gas from the aroma.
2.Grind the above fried mixture with 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp asafetida, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1 tsp cardamom powder, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 tsp ginger powder, and 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder. Sieve to get a fine powder.
3. Store in a jar or air tight container. This powder can be used for several weeks.

Serving suggestion: Take a small ball of cooked rice. Add 1 tsp metkut, 1 tsp ghee, and 1 tsp lemon juice to the rice. Mix well and enjoy with pickle. You can also add metkut to waran bhaat if you don’t like eating dry dishes.

Verdict: No more store bought metkut packets for me. I was elated on tasting this savory powder mixed with steaming rice. The taste was exactly how I remembered it. The US mixtures are pathetic. I had a tough time grinding all the ingredients. If you have a coffee maker, I think it would be easier to grind using it. This is a must-try for all Maharashtrian food lovers.

The recipe for metkut also happens to be Vaishali’s debut post. Some other Maharashtrian comfort foods that I found were:
Nupur’s Waran Bhaat
Manisha’s Wangi Bhaat
TC’s Shevgyachya shenganchi amti

Upma

2007-06-15T15:41:00.000-04:00

(This is my contribution to WBB hosted by Trupti and started by Nandita. The theme this month is Spice it up. This is also my contribution for the letter "U" in Nupur's A-Z of Indian vegetables.)

Who doesn't like spicy breakfast? We all do. Be it poha, upma, or omlettes it's good to start the day with some hot and spicy taste. Spicy breakfasts are a good variation from the everyday bowl of cereals and orange juice. With just a little bit of preparation the previous night, you can cook these breakfasts in a jiffy.

There are many variations to how you can make upma. There's the South Indian style of adding urad daal to it. You can also experiment with a lot of vegetables. I remember my best friend's mom used to make the best upma ever. Somehow my friend was never a upma fan, which gave me all the more reason to ask aunty to make upma. God, I still remember the taste of that upma. She used to put cauliflower in it and it tasted awesome.

Here's another simple way of making upma.

Matar Upma

Serves: 4
Prep time: 35 minutes

To make upma:
1.Finely chop 1 medium onion and 4 green chillies. Boil 1/2 cup peas.
2.Heat a pan on medium flame. Add 1 1/2 cup rava/semolina. Fry till the rava turns golden brown. Keep this aside in a plate. Add a pinch of sugar and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder to the rava.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add 1 tsp mustard seeds and when they splutter add a pinch of asafetida, chopped green chillies, and 10-15 curry leaves. Fry for a minute.
4. Add chopped onion and saute till the onion turns light brown. Next, add the boiled peas, salt to taste, 2 tbsp cashew pieces, and 2 tsp curd. Mix well. Check seasoning.
5. Add 3 cups of water to the above mixture. Basically, you need to add double the amount of water in the rava. Boil this on high heat for 5 minutes.
6. Add the rava; mix and make sure that no lumps are formed. Cook for 5 minutes and serve hot.
Serving suggestions: A little bit of extra effort can go a long way in making a dish presentable. Of course, you can't do this for the early morning breakfast. But if you are serving upma to your guests, try this. Sprinkle some cilantro in a small bowl, add some shredded coconut on top, then add upma. Firmly press the upma. Turn the bowl upside down in your serving dish. Serve with lemon.

Taco Soup

2007-06-09T22:55:00.000-04:00

(This is my entry for the letter “T” in the A-Z of Indian vegetables. Though this soup is not so Indian, it’s healthy and nutritious.)
I got this lovely soup recipe from my friend P. She had made this for a potluck party and all of us simply loved the soup. It contains lots of veggies and beans wish a dash of Mexican dressing. The soup is very filling and so tasty that you won’t stop at one bowl. Here’s how to make this soup:

Taco Soup

(Serves 3)
1.Take 1 cup beans such as Lima, Kidney, Northern, Garbanzos. Basically, any type of beans that you like. Soak them overnight. Next day, pressure cook them for 3 whistles. Do not drain the water.
2.Finely chop 1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 small capsicum, and 2 green chillies.
3.Blend 1 tomato in the mixture and make puree.
4.Heat butter in a pan. Add onions and sauté till the onions turn translucent. Add green chillies and fry for a minute.
5.Add ½ tsp ginger paste and ½ tsp garlic paste. Fry for a minute.
6.Now add the chopped tomatoes and chopped capsicum. Fry till the tomatoes are soft.
7.Add the tomato puree and cook for 2-3 minutes.
8.Add salt and pepper to taste, 1 tsp taco mix (I used Old El Paso Mild mix), and 2 tsp ranch dressing.
9.Now add the cooked beans with the water and simmer for 15-20 minutes on low heat.
10.Taco soup is ready. Serve hot garnished with sour cream and grated cheese.

Round-up: Here is the round-up of T dishes.

Happy Birthday, Meeta!

2007-06-07T00:20:00.000-04:00

(This is my contribution to Meeta’s MM. This month Meeta has invited us for her virtual birthday party.)
Remember the ad in which a cute kid gets angry with everyone at home, runs away from home, and is found and brought back by his servant? The kid’s mom makes his favorite sweet, and on seeing it he exclaims “Jalebi” in a very cute voice. He’s content eating them, forgets all about leaving home, and when his moms asks him if he wants to go away he answers “Jana to hai, magar bees pacchis saal baad”. Well, that was my favorite ad for quite some time and jalebis have been my all time favorite since quite some time. I don’t have a sweet tooth, but jalebis and gulab jamuns are two exceptions.

This one’s for you Meeta, as you celebrate another birthday. Since the time I have seen your blog, I have admired it for the plethora of recipes and the superb photographs. This sweet is also for a sweet little princess. My best friend delivered a baby girl last week and though I was not there to share the special moments, I celebrated in my own way by eating jalebis.

Jalebis

(Adapted from this recipe)
Yields around 20-25 jalebis
Prepation time: 2 hours for fermentation plus an hour for frying and making syrup.
Ingredients
For the batter:
1.2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
2.11/2 tbsp rice flour
3.1/4th tsp. baking powder
4.2 tbsp curd (plain yogurt)
5.11/4th cups warm water
6.1/2 tsp saffron threads, slowly dry-roasted and powdered
7.Ghee or vegetable oil for frying

For the sugar syrup
1.3 cups sugar
2.2 2/3rd cups water
3.1/2 tsp green cardamom seeds powder

Method
1.Mix the all purpose flour, rice flour, baking powder, curd and 3/4th cup of water in a bowl (preferably a ceramic bowl). Mix well with a whisk.
2.Add remaining ½ cup water and 1/8th tsp of saffron powder, and whisk until smooth.
3.Set aside for about 2 hours to ferment.
4.Whisk thoroughly before use. Do steps 5 and 6 simultaneously.
5.Prepare one-string sugar syrup by dissolving sugar in the water. Just before the syrup is ready add saffron and cardamom powder.
6.Heat oil in a kadhai. Pour the batter in a steady stream (or coconut shell with a hole) into the kadhai to form coils. I added the batter in an empty ketchup bottle. Make the coils very fast. If you hold the batter for too long, then the coil will separate out. You won’t get it right the first time, but with practice and patience you will get it right.Deep fry them until they are golden and crisp all over but not brown.Remove from the kadhai and drain on kitchen paper and immerse in the syrup.
7.Leave for at least 15 minutes so that they soak the syrup.

(Baby snakes in sugar syrup:)
8.Take them out of syrup and serve hot.

Did you know?: Jalebis taste wonderful with buttermilk. When I first saw someone dipping a jalebi in buttermilk, I gawked in horror. Then that person convinced me to try it and I loved the taste. The next time you make/eat jalebis, dip one in buttermilk and let me know how you find it.

View the round-up here.

Schezwan Dosa

2007-06-03T00:28:00.000-04:00

(This is my entry for the letter "S" in Nupur's A-Z of vegetables. This lovely Indo-Chinese dish fills your tummy and pleases your tongue.)

Note to my readers: Request you to read my article Home Alone in which I have mentioned tips for girls on the H4 visa to utilize their free time in an effective way.

Mumbai: the city that never sleeps. The city I love and miss for so many reasons – it’s the city where I was born and brought up. When I think of Mumbai, I miss my home, my parents, my school, every lane I that is close to home, the crowd, the trains, traveling in crowded buses and in rickshaws, the sights and smells of the city, the familiar places and shops, the haggling of prices with vegetable sellers, the festivals and sweets, the galli ka cricket, and the Mumbai rains. But if someone would ask me to name the thing that I miss most about Mumbai, it would be definitely the Mumbai street food. Now, I am aware that too much of street food is bad for health. But it’s not my fault that I was introduced and fell in love with the Mumbai junk food.

I was in Ruia for class 11th and 12th. And for those who are familiar with the college and its surroundings, they would know that it’s a heaven for junk food lovers. There are several restaurants in and around Ruia. The first ones that come to my mind are Mani’s, DP’s and a Chinese joint whose name I fail to recollect. Then there was the vada pav wala right outside King George School. Walk further for around 5 minutes and you will reach D. Damodar’s snacks and sweet shop. I was so in love with the samosas, kachoris, and pattices sold in this shop that I was hoping I would marry someone from their family. Thus began my eternal love affair with junk food.

I used to frequent the junk food joints near Shivaji Park, eat chat near Citylight, hog on wada pav whenever I felt like. Of course, my parents saw to it that I did not overdo it. There were times when I used to eat shev puri on my way back from office and then declare that I would eat less for dinner. My mom used to ask me if I had eaten any junk food, and I used to say “No”. Then she used to probe me like a police officer and I used to sheepishly answer in the affirmative

My chat love often took me to Ghatkopar where two of my best friends resided. We used to take a stroll down “Khau galli” and sample yummy snacks at cheap prices. The chief among them were dabeli and chat. Schezwan Dosa is one dish that I had seen on the streets of Ghatkopar, but never got the chance to sample. My husband and best friend have tasted this dish and I have tried to recreate this lovely dosa with their help.

Schezwan Dosa

Makes around: 6 schezwan dosas (the dosa batter will yield another couple of sada dosas)
Cooking level: Medium
Preparation time: I took around 2 hours for making dosas, chutney, and sambhar.

For the stuffing (schezwan vegetable mixture):
Ingredients
1.1 ½ cup shredded cabbage
2.½ cup capsicum – chopped to pieces
3.½ cup carrots – chopped finely to pieces
4.1 big onion – sliced thin
5.½ cup noodles – cooked aldent (boil water and cook noodles for exactly 2 minutes)
6.Salt and pepper to taste
7.1 tbsp oil
8.1 tbsp schezwan sauce (I used Ching's schezwan sauce)
9.½ tbsp soya sauce
10.1 tsp chilli vinegar

Method for the stuffing:
1.Heat a pan and add 1 tbsp oil in it.
2.Add carrots, capsicums, cabbage and onion and fry on high heat till the vegetables are cooked.
3.Next, add the noodles and fry for 2-3 minutes.
4.Add salt and pepper to taste, schezwan sauce, soya sauce, chilli vinegar and mix all the ingredients well.
5.Cook for 3-4 minutes and turn off the heat.

For the schezwan dosa:
1.Wash together 2 cups rice, ¾ cup urad daal, and 1 tsp fenugreek seeds. Soak this mixture for 3-4 hours.
2.Grind the above mixture and ferment it overnight. For me, overnight fermentation doesn’t work, so I ferment the mixture for almost 24 hours before making idlis/dosas.
3.Add salt to taste in the batter.
4.Heat a pan and put 1 tsp oil on it. Pour a spoon of batter and spread evenly. Add a little bit of oil on all sides of the dosa. Flip the dosa on the other side and cook for about 30 seconds.
5.Now, spread 1 tsp of schezwan sauce on this side of the dosa and spread evenly. Add a spoonful of the schezwan vegetable mixture on one edge of the dosa. Let cook for another 30 seconds.

6.Roll the dosa and transfer on a plate.
7.Continue making more dosas repeating steps 4,5, and 6.
8. Serve hot with sambhar and chutney or enjoy without any accompaniment.

Verdict: Superb, that's how these dosas turned out. You can use less noodles and more vegetables in the stuffing. These dosas are quite filling and a crowd pleasure. Check out another lovely Indo-Chinese dish from Swad.

View the round-up of S vegetables here.

MBP: Something sweet

2007-05-20T23:07:00.000-04:00

The best thing about MBP is that you get a chance to visit all the lovely blogs in detail, find a recipe that sounds new and interesting, and try it at home. MBP makes you scour through your friend’s blogs, reading their long written posts and memories. This time Coffee chose “Something Sweet” as the month’s theme. The monthly patrolling took me to Shilpa’s blog – where there was no dearth of sweets. I totally love her blog for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the name of the blog “Aayi’s Recipes (Mom’s recipes)” sounds very, very sweet to me. It reminds me of my own mom’s recipes whenever I visit her blog. Then there’s the beautiful header, the plethora of recipes, her clear style of writing, and beautiful pictures. There were plenty of sweets to choose from – so much so that I got confused. Time was running out and I settled on something that seemed interesting and new to me. The first sweet in Shilpa’s desserts list happens to be “Biscuit Pudding” and I decided to try it out.

I did not have “Marie” biscuits on hand and was going to substitute with Parle – G biscuits. Then I thought better of it; didn’t want the pudding to be a disaster. I followed the recipe as is, just took half the quantity of everything. Here’s how the pudding turned out:

Shilpa, after eating this we licked the chocolate from the vessel. Nope, it’s not bad manners:) Thanks Coffee for the beautiful theme and to Shilpa for this wonderful recipe.

The king of fruits

2007-05-18T18:44:00.000-04:00

(This is my entry for the AFAM event started by Maheshwari and hosted this month by Deepa. The fruit this month is Mango.)

Mango is called the “King of fruits” with good reason. Every year, Indians wait for summer and the arrival of mangoes. No other fruit compares in taste and sweetness with mangoes. Famous varieties of mangoes include Himsagar, Alphanso, and Varanasi mangoes.

“Strip” was what my mom would say to my little brother when we were kids. He used to peel the fruit and suck the pulp. He used to eat mangoes in such a fashion that he would end up getting the pulp on his hands, legs, and chest. So, rather than spend her valuable minutes washing his clothes, mom would make him eat mangoes shirt-less. I would prefer cutting and eating the fruit. We used to buy mangoes by the dozen or sometimes buy the “peti” or box containing 3 dozen mangoes. A popular Sunday lunch in our house in the summer would be Amras-Puri. Dad would sit with a huge vessel and patiently take out the mango pulp. To this, we would add some sugar and enjoy with hot puris. Ooh, those days of eating endless mangoes. We used to bid farewell to mangoes in the same way as we do for Lord Ganesha by saying “Pudhchya varshi lavkar ya (Come soon the next year)”

In US, I have seen mangoes in couple of Indian shops. But they are still green. For the AFAM event, I picked up a can of sliced mangoes from the store. Here are two recipes featuring the king of fruits.

Mango Burfi

(Adapted from this recipe)
Makes: 7-8 barfis
Making level: Easy
Preparation time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1.1 cup mango pulp
2.1/2 cup sugar
3.¼ cup ghee (butter)
4.7-8 cashewnuts – chopped into pieces
5.½ tsp cardamom powder
6.5-6 strands of saffron

Method
1.Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan. Add the cashew nuts and fry till golden.
2.Heat a non-stick pot over medium heat. Add the mango pulp and stir.
3.As the pulp starts boiling, add the sugar and mix well.
4.Add the cashew pieces. Keep stirring as this mixture starts to thicken. Next, add the cardamom powder and saffron.
5.Add ghee in small amounts and keep stirring continuously. When mixture starts leaving sides of the vessel, remove from fire and pour it onto a greased plate.
6.Let the mixture cool completely. Cut into squares or diamonds.

Mango Lassi

Makes: 1 glass
Drink making level: Super easy
Preparation time: 5 minutes

To make the lassi:
1.Mix together ¼ cup mango pulp, 1/4 cup yoghurt (curd), 2 tsp sugar, ¼ cup water, ¼ tsp cardamom powder in the blender. Blend till smooth.
2.Add 1-2 ice-cubes. Garnish with chopped almonds and pistachios.

Verdict: I think I should have heating the mango barfi mixture for more time. It was a little bit jelly-like than a hard barfi. The barfis tasted great and looked inviting with cashew pieces embedded in them.
The mango lassi was totally refreshing. While making the lassi, I had no idea it would turn out so good. Unfortunately, I had less mango pulp remaining, resulting in a single glass. I and P were left snatching the glass from each other, taking turns to sip the lassi.

These two go to Deepa as my entries for AFAM-Mango. Deepa, everytime I visited your blog, that countdown meter reminded me how late I was in submitting the entries:)

Quesadillas with mushrooms

2007-05-15T22:18:00.000-04:00

(My entry for the letter “Q” for Nupur’s A-Z series is Quesadilla.)

To all my readers: A big THANKS for visiting Swad. I started blogging in Jan and put up a site meter in March end. Counting from that day and including my own visits, Swad crossed 5,000 visitors. Thanks to all my friends, family, blog friends, and readers. Your comments and visits encourage me a lot!

Quesadilla is one dish that I always seem to mispronounce. It’s an exotic Mexican dish that uses tortillas with some stuffing. The first time I ate this dish was in a beautiful Mexican restaurant named “Bahama Breeze”. I would give an A+ grade to the ambience and décor of this restaurant. Anyways, out of the three vegetarian dishes they had on the menu, quesadilla seemed very tempting. And tempting it turned out to be. Beautifully presented with a pasta salad and cream on the side, the tortilla and the stuffing inside it were delicious.

According to me, the most boring day of the week is Monday. Yesterday was another such boring Monday that forced us out of our lazy weekend. Anyways, to shrug off some part of the boring day, we decided to make something different from the regular chapatti-sabzi we have for dinner. Decision made, we went out and purchased a pack of tortillas. I found two types of tortillas in the store – wheat (flour) and corn. I chose the wheat tortillas. These can also be made at home. For the stuffing, I chose my favorite vegetable, which happens to be mushrooms.

Quesadillas with mushrooms

(Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian)
Makes: 3 stuffed tortillas
Cooking level: Easy (1/5)
Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients
1.4 corn or wheat tortillas (I used wheat)
2.1 tbsp oil
3.1 medium onion – cut into very fine half rings
4.2-3 green chillies – finely chopped
5.2 garlic cloves – peeled and finely chopped
6.1 pack of white mushrooms – chopped into 1/8 inch thick slices
7.1 tbsp coriander leaves (cilantro) – finely chopped
8.Salt and pepper to taste

Making the stuffing
1.Heat oil in a pan set over medium heat. Add the green chillies and garlic cloves. Fry till the garlic turns light brown.
2.Add the onion rings and fry till the onion turns light brown.
3.Add the mushrooms, cilantro, salt, and pepper. Saute for 4 minutes or until there is no liquid left at the bottom of the pan.

Heating the tortillas
If you are using store-bought tortillas, heat them in the following manner:
1.Heat a pan. Place a tortilla and cook for 30 seconds.
2.Now, turn the tortilla and cook the other side for 30 seconds.
3.Repeat this process till few brown spots appear on the tortilla. Cook each tortilla for a total of 2 ½ minutes.
4.The tortillas should be crisp.

Assembling the quesadilla
1.Place a tortilla on a plate.
2.Spread a quarter of the mushroom filling over one half of the tortilla.
3.Fold the empty side over the filled side.
4.Fill all tortillas in this fashion.
5.Serve hot with sour cream or with a dollop of guacamole.

Verdict: We loved the stuffing and the crisp tortillas. However, 3 for 2 left us longing for more. Hubby made another tortilla with salsa and ranch as the stuffing. This too tasted great. You can use other combination of veggies in the tortilla or simply make a cheese filling.

P is for...

2007-05-12T23:35:00.000-04:00

(This is my contribution for the letter P in Nupur’s A-Z series)

Note: Of all the letters in A-Z, “P” happens to be my favorite letter. The reason – my hubby’s name starts with a P. P also happens to be such a versatile letter that I thought of many, many dishes starting with P. I was so hooked to this letter, that I even wrote a small poem on it. Check out at the end of the post.)

Last Monday, my dear friend A was all set to leave neighborhood and move to a brand new state and city far away from me. We enjoyed our last supper together and settled down to chat. I and A have spent considerable afternoons chatting about everything and nothing. I know all about her past jobs, family, schooling, friends and she knows about me. On this last afternoon, she mentioned that she loved a dish called “Papeta-Pur-Eedu”. She worked with a lot of Parsi colleagues in her last job, and got to taste the Parsi cuisine. She described that the Parsis break eggs on most of their dishes, even on okra. Papeta-Pur-Eedu is a famous Parsi dish and when A described how it tastes, I knew I had to make it. I confirmed and re-confirmed the dish name from her. A Google search rewarded me with the perfect recipe. Here’s how to make this fabulous dish.

Papeta-Pur-Eedu/ Eggs on potato baked dish

(Adapted from this recipe)
Serves: 3
Cooking level: Easy – Medium (2/5)
Preparation time: Around an hour

Ingredients
1.4 Medium size Boiled Potatoes chopped into cubes and sprinkled with salt & pepper
2.1 tbsp Cooking Oil
3.1 Medium Onion – chopped
4.1 capsicum – chopped (optional)
5.½ tsp cumin seeds
6.1 medium Tomato – chopped
7.2 Tablespoons Coriander - chopped
8.1 Tablespoon freshly ground Ginger/Garlic paste
9.1 tsp red chilli powder
10.½ tsp cumin powder
11.½ tsp coriander powder
12.¼ tsp tumeric powder
13.1 tbsp mild salsa (or 1 Cup Beef or Chicken Broth)
14.½ cup water
15.Salt to taste
16.2 eggs beaten with salt & pepper

How to make it:
1.Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and after they change color, add the onions. Fry till the onions turn golden brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for some time. Next, add the capsicum and fry for 3-4 minutes.
2.Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, and fry for 1-2 minutes.
3.Add chopped tomatoes and coriander leaves, cover and simmer over low flame for 5 minutes.
4.Add the salsa, salt, and ½ cup of water. Boil for 2 minutes. You can substitute the salsa with vegetable/chicken broth.
5.Add the chopped potatoes. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat.
6.Grease a baking dish with butter. I used my loaf pan. Spread the potato mixture in the baking pan. Pour the beaten eggs on the potato mixture.

(Ready to go in the oven)
7.Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes till the egg is semi-set. Do not over bake the eggs. Serve hot.

(Back from the oven)
Verdict: Delicious, spicy, and heavy. Although, I was skeptical to break an egg on the potato mixture (as I had never done this before), the end result turned out amazing. You can roll this mix into a chapatti/tortiIla, wrap it in a taco, or eat it with bread. I will definitely be trying more dishes from the Parsi cuisine.

My last contribution for the letter P is none other than Pattice. This uses an onion-coriander filling in the potato patty.

Pattice

(Adapted from Mangala Barve’s Annapoorna)

Yields: 10-12 pattices
Cooking level: Medium (3/5)
Preparation time: 1 hour

To make the pattice:

1.Boil 4 big potatoes. Peel and mash them.
2.Take 4 bread slices. Dip and take out each slice in water. Squeeze out the water from the bread. Mix potatoes, breads, and salt into a dough.
3.Finely chop 1 big onion, 4 green chillies, and a bunch of coriander leaves.
4.Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add ½ tsp cumin seeds and ¼ tsp turmeric powder. Add green chillies and chopped onions. Fry till the onion turns light brown. Next, add 1/2 cup peas, ¼ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp garam masala powder, and salt to taste. Turn off the heat. Add the chopped coriander leaves in this mixture.
5.Take a small portion of the potato-bread dough in your hand. Press it between your hands. Now, bring your fingers together so that your hand makes cavity. Fill a small amount of onion-coriander mixture in this cavity. Close the cavity and press again so that it forms a cutlet.

(Before)
6.Heat a pan. Add a dollop of butter. Shallow fry 2-3 patties at a time. Serve hot with ketchup.

(After frying)
The pattice says:
1.Pour cooked chickpeas, shev, chopped onion, chopped coriander, tamarind chutney on me and enjoy me as Ragda – Pattice.
2.Hide me in a burger bun, and give me company of lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced onion, butter, chutney, and cheese. Enjoy veggie burger.
I took the pattice’s second advice.

This is my small, silly poem:
P is for Pani Puri, my favorite chat item
P is for Pasta, an Italian dish
P is for Palak, from which Popeye got his energy
P is for Puran Poli, a yummy Maharashtrian dessert
P is for Pizza, bread topped with veggies
P is for Panchamrit, a unique combination of 5 ingredients
P is for Phulka, a puffed Indian roti
P is for Paneer, which gives birth to yummy vaggies
P is for Papad, enjoy it fried or roasted
P is for Pohe, my favorite breakfast item
P is for Paan, an Indian mouth-freshener
P is for Peas, use it as a combo with any veggie
P is for Pulav, delightful combo of rice and veggies
P is for Paratha, bread stuffed with veggies
P is for Pakoras, a mix of besan and veggies
P is for Pav-bhaji, spicy blend of veggies

Paneer Biryani

2007-05-11T23:52:00.000-04:00

(This is my entry for the letter "P" in Nupur's A-Z series)

A unique combo of rice, vegetables, and spicies, this dish is loved by all. Café Noorani near Mahalaxmi serves the best biryani I have eaten till now. My non-veg eating friends would always tell me what I am missing out when I would not eat the Chicken Biryani. But, I feel that vegetable biryani has a charm of its own.

This recipe is from my male friend N, who happens to be an expert in making biryanis and pilafs. This guy is very special to me as he introduced me and my hubby. N and I are from the same college; he was my senior. Later, he joined company X and started working on the same project as my hubby. When I joined company X two years later, he introduced me and my hubby. Thus, started my love story. I often ate N’s head and made inquiries about what type of guy my hubby was. Over time, our friendship has really grown special. As I had written earlier, all these bachelors are expert at cooking some dish or the other. I keep warning them that if I meet their wives, I am going to spill my guts and name all their culinary successes. I will see to it that they spend at least one day per week in the kitchen

N had once made Paneer Biryani and I totally fell in love with it. It was awesome. I sat down with him and noted the recipe. Let me divide the process in four parts.

Paneer Biryani

Serves: 5-6
Cooking level: Medium – Tough (4/5)
Preparation time: Approx. 1 ½ hr

Making the rice
1.Wash 1 ½ cup of basmati (or any long grained rice) in 2-3 changes of water.
2.Add double the quantity of water.
3.Microwave for 12 minutes. The funda is we need half-cooked rice. So, using microwave works fine.
4.Take out rice from microwave and hold under running cold water. This helps in separating the rice.
5.I got this tip from Nupur’s biryani recipe. Add 10-15 saffron strands to a tablespoon of milk. Soak it for some time. Add this mixture to the cooked rice.

Frying the nuts and bolts:)
1.Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pan.
2.Add ¼ cup of mized cashewnuts and raisins to the ghee.
3.Fry for some time. Drain on paper napkins and keep aside.

Making the gravy

1.Heat 1 tbsp ghee on medium flame.
2.Add 1 tsp cumin seeds, and after they splutter add 3 small sliced onions. Fry till the onions turn dark brown. Don’t loose your patience and keep frying.
3.Next, add 1 tbsp Hyderabadi Biryani masala, 1 tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp garam masala, and salt to taste.
4.Mix all the ingredients. Now, add 1 cup green peas and 2 cups of cauliflower florets. (You can add other veggies too). Again, mix the veggies and spices. Add 1 ½ cup water and bring it to a boil. When the vegetables are half cooked, add 1 packet of paneer. Stir well, taking care that you don’t break the paneer pieces.

Assembling the biryani
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.Spread ghee on the sides of a baking pan. Add basmati rice and spread in a layer. Next, sprinkle the fried nuts on the rice. Now, spread a layer of the cooked vegetables. Repeat this process again.

3.Bake for 10-15 minutes.
4.Serve hot with raita.

Verdict: Simply delicious and spicy. Though the process is time consuming, the yummy biryani is worth it.

Check out other yummy biryanis from fellow bloggers:
1. Shilpa's Kofta Biryani, Making Biryanis, and Belgaum style biryani.
2. Pavani's Vegetable Biryani.
3. Asha's Easy Aloo Biryani and Three tier vegetable biryani.
4. Sig's Easy breezy chicken biryani and Tamil style mutton biryani.
5. Nupur's Vegetable biryani.
6. Sia's Veg biryani
7. Trupti's Veggie biryani

Palak Pakoras

2007-05-09T22:34:00.000-04:00

(This is my contribution to the A-Z of Indian vegetables hosted by Nupur. The letter this week is “P”)

We seem to have purchased some kind of magical spinach from the grocery store. I used it twice to make vegetables still it hasn’t got over. It’s as if everytime I keep it in the fridge, it increases in quantity. Now, I am a big palak fan. But, I can’t eat it everyday. Then, there’s the dread that if I neglect it, it will wilt and die. Yesterday, in another futile event to use up the spinach, I made palak pakoras. The pakoras turned out good, but the mission remained unaccomplished.

Palak Pakoras/Spinach Fritters

Makes: 10-15 pakoras
Cooking level: Easy
Preparation time: 20 minutes

(Special thanks to hubby for leaving some pakoras to be photographed)
Ingredients:

1.¾ cup finely chopped spinach
2.1 cup besan
3.½ tsp ajwain seeds
4.½ tsp red chilli powder
5.¼ tsp turmeric powder
6.¼ tsp garam masala
7.Salt to taste
8.1 tsp hot oil
9.Pinch of baking soda
10.Oil for frying

Method:

1.Mix together all the above ingredients. Add water and make batter.
2.Heat oil in a pan on medium level.
3.Drop spoonfuls of batter in the oil and fry till golden brown. Drain the fritters on paper napkins and serve hot with ketchup.

I kept the pakoras in a bowl and soon saw them disappearing in my hubby's mouth. That's when I yelled at him to refrain from eating them before I could take snaps. His response, "Take a snap of the empty bowl, and write that the pakoras where here some time back." I didn't know whether to smile or sigh:)
Also on Swad:
Apple Pakoras
Egg Pakoras

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

2007-05-08T23:08:00.000-04:00

(This one’s my contribution to Meeta’s Monthly Mingle. It’s an event that all food bloggers look forward to. The theme of the month is apt – “Spring is in the air”.)

Note of thanks: A big THANKS to Sig who provided me the link to a great watermarking software. Hugs to you, Sig!

After a long, long wait, winter has shut its doors and made way for spring. I had heard so much about spring since I came to US that I was looking forward to it for two reasons – I was terribly tired of the snow and cold, and because I had heard so much. Well, the wait was worth it. The trees were gifted back their dresses, the birds came out of their hiding places, the flowers smiled and welcomed spring, and we could finally go out without jackets Spring for me = vibrant colors. I wanted to make something that showcased my favorite color for the MM (Monthly Mingle).

I don’t know about you, but I sure do panic when I see fruits decaying. It’s as if I am murdering them, snatching away their life. I usually see to it that we consume fruits as soon as we buy them. But, my calculations go wrong at times or we concentrate our attention on eating other stuff, leaving the fruits scorning at us from the table or refrigerator. This time there was a whole pack of strawberries and couple of bananas that were demanding our attention. I was pondering what to do with them when I remembered that I had a recipe and I wanted to make a smoothie since a long time.

So, what’s exactly a smoothie? It’s a cool, refreshing beverage prepared by blending together fruits, juices, or chocolates. It’s quite similar to a milkshake. Most of the supermarkets sell smoothies in different brands and flavors, but if you have all the ingredients at home, then why not have fun while making a smoothie at home? Some time back, Nupur had made Giant Cauliflower Puff from a wonderful book highlighting breakfast items. I was lucky to find the same book in my local library.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

(Adapted from Mollie Katzen’s Sunlight Café)
Serves: 1
Drink making level: Easy
Preparation time: 10 minutes

To make the smoothie:
1.Blend together ½ cup orange juice, 1 medium-sized ripe banana, 8-10 large strawberries, and ½ cup vanilla yoghurt. Puree to the desired consistency. The author mentions that a smoothie need not be smooth. So, if you like to have some fruit chunks in your smoothie, blend accordingly.
2.Add 1-2 tbsps lemon juice to the smoothie. Serve cold.

Delightful reads:
1.Nupur would hate to leave back her blender in the event of her home being on fire:)
2.Mango Smoothie
3.Breakfast smoothie
4.Mixed berry smoothie
5. Orange strawberry smoothie
6. Banana Fig smoothie
7. Mixed fruit smoothie

Papad Pohe

2007-05-07T22:55:00.000-04:00

(This is my contribution to Nupur’s A-Z series of Indian vegetables. The letter of the week is “P”.)

My aunt stays in Surat, far away from all of us. She keeps insisting that we visit her but it used to prove difficult with the college and later the job schedule. We used to be on the look out for a chance to visit her. You see, she has this beautiful terrace flat in which we can relax and watch TV the whole day. Another event that used to tempt us to take leave and visit her would be the kite flying festival. Right from the end of November to the day of Makar Sankranti, the Surat sky is filled with kites of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Kites are available at all prices ranging from Re.1 to Rs. 1,000 and beyond.

I and my two brothers were lucky to take time from our schedules and travel to Surat in December. My aunt has a son who proves to be the perfect entertainment for all of us. He’s cute, mischievous, and has a horrible temper at the same time. The four of us would do nothing else but kite flying the whole day, coming down from the terrace only when our stomachs complained of hunger. Poor aunt used to prepare food in advance in anticipation of our hunger cries. One such dish that I loved owing to its spiciness and crunchiness is Papad Pohe. They are more like Chivda and serve as an amazing snack for tea-time. Though I did not pay more attention to the ingredients of this fabulous snack while gobbling them, I tried to re-create this recipe on my own).

Papad Pohe

(Adapted from my aunt’s recipe.)

Serves: 1-2
Recipe cooking level: Easy
Preparation time: 15 minutes

You will need:
For the spicy poha:
1.2 cups thin poha
2.2 papad
3.Salt and sugar to taste
4.1 tsp red chilli powder

For tempering
1.1 tbsp oil for frying
2.1 tsp mustard seeds
3.1 tsp cumin seeds
4.Pinch of asafetida
5.½ tsp turmeric powder
6.5 green chillies
7.10-15 curry leaves
8.¼ cup roasted groundnuts

Method:
1.Heat oil in a pan and fry the papads. Break the papad in pieces.
2.Finely chop the green chillies.
3.Place the poha in a microwave safe bowl and cook for 3 minutes. When done, add salt, sugar, red chilli powder, and the fried papads in the poha.
4.Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add the cumin and mustard seeds. When they splutter, add asafetida, turmeric powder, green chillies, and curry leaves. Saute for a minute. Now, add the roasted groundnuts and fry for 2-3 minutes. Pour this tempering in the spicy poha.
5.Mix well. Store the papad pohe in an airtight container.

Verdict: This crunchy poha tastes great with the occasional crunchy munch from the papads and the groundnuts. You can add some cashews too for some extra crunch. This is a wonderful snack for the kids in the May vacation.

Omelette with veggies

2007-05-05T23:32:00.000-04:00

The first time I ate vegetable omelette was in Denny’s while we were coming back from our Niagara trip. The omelette was so heavy that I could not finish it. But, it was the best omelette I had eaten all my life. Nupur’s A-Z series gave me a chance to try it at home. This recipe gave me a basic idea of making the omelette. Here’s how I made omelette with veggies.

1.Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add ½ cup of mixed veggies of your choice. I added onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, capsicums. Fry till the veggies are cooked. Then add salt to taste, a pinch of red chilli powder, and pour some soy sauce in the veggies. Pour this mixture in another dish.

2.Add salt and pepper to 3 well beaten eggs.

3.Spray the skillet with some non-stick spray. Add eggs, allowing them to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook for 3 minutes, or until the bottom begins to set.

4.When nearly cooked, top half of the omelette with the cooked veggies. Add some Parmesan cheese over the veggies.

This is an amazing breakfast for a lazy Sunday morning. And yes, it can substitute lunch as well. Sending this as my entry for "O" in the A-Z series.

JFI: Greens

2007-04-30T23:41:00.000-04:00

Since childhood, my parents have strived and made me eat “Greens”. There was a time when I stayed away from palak, methi, and other green leafy vegetables because of their bitter taste. Mom used to make parathas and puris so that at least some vegetables went in my stomach. So, why did Mom try so much to make me eat these veggies? Here’s the answer:
Green vegetables are rich in Vitamin A and B. They improve your eye-sight and shield you from vision problems. Greens improve your immune system and increase your resistance against diseases. They are Vitamin K found in most greens helps blood coagulation. These are just some of the benefits of eating green vegetables.
As my entry for JFI, I am sending a vegetable that’s a beautiful medley to two of my favorite foods. Palak and Paneer join hands to create Palak Paneer.

Palak Paneer

Ingredients
1.2 large bunches of spinach
2.2 packets of fried paneer
3.2-3 green chillies
4.8-10 garlic cloves
5.3 tbsps oil
6.½ tsp cumin seeds
7.Salt to taste
8.1 tbsp lemon juice
9.4 tbsps fresh cream

Method
1.Remove stems and wash spinach in running water. Blanch in salted boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove and hold under chilled water. Squeeze out excess water. Remove stems, wash, and roughly chop green chillies.
2.Grind spinach into a fine paste along with the green chillies.
3.Peel, wash, and chop garlic.
4.Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When they change color, add garlic and sauté for half a minute. Add the spinach puree and stir. Check seasoning. Add water if required.
5.When the gravy comes to a boil, add the paneer and mix well. Stir in lemon juice. Finally, add fresh cream.
6.Serve hot.

Sending this as my entry for JFI: Greens. JFI has now completed one full year. Though I joined this event very late, I am quite hooked on to it. I find this event entertaining and challenging, yet very sacred at the same time.

Don’t forget to eat greens. After all, Popeye got all his power by eating spinach. Enjoy some funny cartoons:)

Related post: JFI Greens round-up

RCI: Tamil

2007-04-25T19:00:00.000-04:00

Lakshmi has introduced RCI, a brand new blog event in which we can get to cook and learn cuisines from all over India. The very first cuisine in the list is one that is beloved to me – the Tamil cuisine.
Tamil cuisine conjures up beautiful memories in my heart. My best friend S is Tamil. We have been friends for over 10 years now and all these years, I have feasted on many delicious recipes cooked by her mom. S would always sigh on finding idlis, dosas, or lemon rice in her tiffin. You see, she used to eat these often. But, we would gladly exchange our tiffins with her. We would be happy when aunty invited us over for food. Never in my life, have I tasted such delicious sambhar, rasam, or dosas. I would freak out and forget how much I devoured. Forget all these yummy dishes; I have never tasted such aromatic coffee in my life. I don’t know what the South Indians add to the coffee, but it is simply amazing. I would patiently wait for the coffee filter to dip out the refreshing coffee. I have been a great fan of Tamil dishes for a long time now.

We keep having regular potlucks here, and the best thing about them is that you get to taste, learn, and know so many new recipes. In one such potluck, I got to taste the traditional Tamil Tamarind Rice and immediately fell in love with it. I loved the tangy taste of tamarind mixed into rice. Luckily, my hands fell upon a very informative book focusing on Tamil cuisine. “A taste of Madras” by Rani Kingman is a wonderful treasure of authentic Tamil recipes. The author starts off by explaining the significance of food in a Tamil household. In her words, “For Tamilians, food is closely related with many customs and beliefs. The kitchen in a Tamilian home, where the preparation and cooking begins, is considered pure and sacred. The cook, who has to wash thoroughly before she starts preparing the meals and may not be touched while cooking, is not permitted to taste any of the food during the course of preparation because it may become polluted.” Now, that’s not happening for someone like me. I keep tasting my dish to see how it is progressing (or digressing).

Tamarind Rice/Puli Satham

Ingredients
1.2 cups water
2.1 cup long grain white rice
3.Salt to taste
4.1 tbsp tamarind
5.2 dried red chillies
6.1 large onion
7.Oil for frying
8.1 tsp mustard seeds
9.½ to 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
10.1 tsp tomato paste
11.Handful of ground nuts

Method
1.Cook the rice.
2.Infuse the tamarind in ¼ cup of hot water. Strain after 5 minutes and set the liquid to one side.
3.Halve the dried red chillies and discard the seeds. Peel the onion and cut into slices.

4.Heat ghee in a kadhai. Add sliced onions and fry till golden brown. Now, add mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add the dried red chillies, fenugreek seeds, groundnuts, tamarind juice, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and gently stir into the cooked, drained rice.

(Boiling in process)

(A close up snap)

Green Peas with lovage seeds/ Nagapatinam Patani

This is the second recipe I am posting from the same book. Being always on the lookout for quick but different recipes, this recipe caught my eye. At first, I was clueless as to what are lovage seeds. A quick Google search revealed that they are none other than the lovely ajwain seeds. I was enchanted by the beautiful aroma of ajwain wafting through my kitchen. I am also sending this to Nupur as my entry for "N".

Ingredients
1.1 small onion
2.1 tsp garlic paste
3.1 tsp ginger paste
4.2 green chillies
5.2 cups green peas
6.1 tsp lovage seeds (ajwain seeds)
7.½ tsp ground coriander
8.Salt to taste

Method
1.Peel and slice the onion. Deseed and chop the green chillies.
2.Heat ghee in a pan and fry the lovage seeds. Add the onion and fry till slightly golden. Add the ginger and garlic.
3.Next add the peas, ground coriander, salt, and 1 ½ tbsps water. Turn down to low heat and cook till peas are soft. Serve hot with chapattis and morru.

Spiced Buttermilk/Morru

Morru serves as a very refreshing drink and a perfect way to end your dinner. We gulped it down after our meal and soon had buttermilk moustaches:)

Ingredients
1.1 cup buttermilk
2.Oil for frying
3.½ tsp cumin seeds
4.Pinch of asafetida
5.Hint of turmeric
6.Salt to taste
7.2 cilantro leaves

Method
1.Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When they pop, add asafetida, turmeric, salt, and cilantro leaves. Cook for a minute or two. Pour the mixture into buttermilk.
2.Serve chilled.

Sending all these to Lakshmi for the RCI event. Thanks Laksmi for introducing this lovely event.

Moogacha bhaat (Moogambhaat) with Kalan

2007-04-21T01:25:00.000-04:00

What do you do when something you have planned goes wrong? You create a dish of your own:)I had originally planned on making moong usal as my entry for “M”. But, I encountered two problems. I estimated that the moong will sprout within 24 hrs. This didn’t happen. They took two whole days to sprout. Secondly, while cooking them I pressure cooked them for 3 whistles. When I opened the utensil, I was disappointed to see that they had lost their green color and turned into a pulp. The most I could make using them would be moong juice or moong kheer:(I fretted and cursed myself for my stupidity. I thought and thought and created a dish of my own.

A few days back, my friend A had mentioned that Konkanis make a dish called “Moogambat”. I heard it as “Moogambhaat”. She had just told me the name of the dish and told me it’s a moong curry. I thought that it is a rice item made using moong curry. My friend later clarified that Moogambat is a ambat (sour) moong curry. This week, I had nothing remaining for my lunch. I was terribly hungry. I took a peek in the fridge and found some left-over rice and the flop moong. That’s when the idea struck me. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients
1.1 cup rice
2.1 tsp cumin seeds
3.Pinch of asafetida
4.3 green chillies, chopped fine
5.2 garlic cloves, chopped
6.1 cup sprouted moong
7.Salt
8.¼ tsp turmeric powder
9.¼ tsp red chilli powder
10.½ tsp garam masala powder
11.½ cup water

Method
1.Cook the rice and the moong separately. Let the rice cool. Drain the water from the moong and preserve. Let’s refer to this as “Moong water”.
2.Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. After they splutter, add asafetida, green chillies, and garlic. Saute for some time. You can also add one sliced onion at this point.
3.Add the cooked moong. Mix well. Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, and garam masala. Mix and add ½ cup water.
4.Bring the gravy to a boil.
5.Add rice chunks to the gravy. Add small chunks and mix well.
6.Cook for 4-5 minutes. Moongambhaat is ready. Serve hot with Kalan.

Kalan is a spicy-tangy curry/soup made from moong water. I do not know the origin of this delicious curry, I only remember that it has been my favorite since childhood. My granny used to make this often when I used to visit her in the May vacation. I and my aunt used to fight over the garlic pieces floating in the curry.
Over the years, Mom regularly made this at home whenever she made mugachi usal. Yesterday, I jotted down the recipe while chatting with Mom. She as usual rushed through all the ingredients, whereas I kept telling her to dictate slowly:) This tasty curry should be devoured hot. It’s a great remedy for cold.

Kalan

Ingredients
1.1 cup moong water from step 1 in making rice.
2.1 cup buttermilk
3.2 green chillies, chopped fine
4.1 garlic clove, chopped
5.Salt and sugar to taste
6.1 tsp ghee

Method
1.Take the moong water. Let it cool completely.
2.Add buttermilk, salt, and sugar to the moong water. Mix well.
3.Pour this mixture in a pan and bring it to a boil. Remember to stir it continuously.
4.Heat ghee in another pan. Add cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add the green chillies and garlic. Saute for some time. Pour this mixture in the boiling curry.
5.Serve hot.

P had never tasted this soup before. Inadvertently, he had a mild cold. He simply loved the soup. The combo of Moogambhaat with Kalan tastes amazing. You can serve Kalan with plain rice too.
This goes as my entry for M to Nupur in the wonderful A-Z series.

AFAM - Apple

2007-04-19T15:46:00.000-04:00

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Yes, it’s true. Apple with its numerous health benefits should be a part of our daily diet. Apples are rich in Vitamin C, anti-oxidants, and fibre. Apples have played a major role in Science. Had Newton uncle not seen an apple falling down from a tree, he would have never discovered gravity. Oh wow, that’s rhyming:) Apples are also used as symbols. It’s a symbol of sin in the Holy Bible.

As my entry for AFAM-Apple, I chose something that I caught my eye while leafing through a book. There are times when hubby calls from office and tells me he’s very very hungry. At such times, I make the normal mediocre snacks such as pohe, upma, etc. This week I was bored of eating the same old stuff. I was longing to try something new. That’s when I found this fantastic recipe in a very famous Marathi cookbook. You may find this book in almost all Marathi books. This book is “Annapurna” by Mangala Barve. My Mom has a copy of this book and it’s so worn and torn from the heavy use that most of the pages have come off. Finding a single recipe is super difficult from the book. The book is divided into different sections such as rice, soups and salads, vegetables, party items, cakes and icing, desserts, and so on. The author has beautifully described all the important dishes in a Marathi household. This book is so famous and has been followed by so many generations that it’s a common wedding gift to the new bride. I did not carry this book while coming to the US. I had it sent to me through a friend coming here. Here’s the recipe for a yummy snack:

Safarchandachi Bhajji/ Apple Pakoras

Ingredients
1.2 cups all purpose flour
2.2 tsp baking powder
3.1 cup milk
4.2 tbsp sugar
5.1 egg
6.3-4 apples
7.¼ tsp cinnamon powder
8.¼ tsp salt

Method
1.Mix the all purpose flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
2.Break the egg in the milk and beat well. Add all purpose flour in the egg-milk mix and mix thoroughly. Add the cinnamon powder and baking powder. Now, your batter is ready.
3.Peel the apple covering. Remove seeds. Cut into desired shape.
4.Dip the apple pieces in the batter.
5.Heat ghee in a pan. Fry the apple pieces till golden brown.

Hubby came home when my photo session was in progress. He tasted the bhajji and loved them. He even asked me what they were made of. I don’t know why he asked me this. They were distinctly tasting of apple and I had even placed two apples while taking the snaps:)

These bhajjis come over to you Maheshwari for the AFAM:Apple event.

Lima Beans with Brinjals

2007-04-14T23:43:00.000-04:00

This vegetable holds a special meaning to me. My friend B with whom I stayed for 4 months after coming to the US had cooked this vegetable the day I landed here. After traveling for so many hours, crossing countries and time zones, this simple vegetable was the most comforting food for me. It suddenly took me back to India and I realized that I will always be close to my motherland whilst I was eating all the Indian food. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
For the masala
1.2 tbsp grated coconut
2.1 red chilli
3.1 tsp cumin seeds

For the gravy
1.1 large onion
2.2 medium tomatoes
3.2-3 brinjals
4.1 packet of frozen Lima Beans (Surti Papdi)
5.2 bay leaves
6.2-3 garlic cloves
7.1 tsp mustard seeds
8.Pinch of asafetida
9.¼ tsp red chilli powder
10.¼ tsp turmeric powder
11.½ tsp garam masala powder
12.Salt to taste

Method
1.Heat a pan and roast grated coconut, red chilli, and cumin seeds till the coconut turn light brown. Grind this in the mixer.
2.Finely chop the tomatoes and onion. Roughly chop the brinjals. Defrost the lima beans.
3.Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add asafetida and bay leaves. Next, add the garlic and onions. Saute till the onions turn golden brown.
4.Add the tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are cooked. Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, and garam masala. Mix well. Saute for some time.
5.Add the brinjals, lima beans, the coconut masala, and salt to taste. Mix and fry for some time.
6.Add one cup of water. Boil the vegetables till they are cooked. Lima beans take quite some time for cooking.
7.Serve hot with chapattis.

Sampling the Lebanese cuisine

2007-04-11T12:42:00.000-04:00

The title of this post could have very well been “In the quest for Bulgur”, because that’s what I did. Right after Meeta announced the theme for the month’s MM as Arabian Nights, I paid a visit to the local library. While majority of the Middle East food falls in the non-veg category, I was lucky to find a book that included some good vegetarian dishes. “Cooking the Lebanese Way” written by Suad Amari focuses on the Lebanese cuisine. The author starts off with an alluring description of the land and history of Lebanon. My Geography knowledge got a lift when I learned that Lebanon is the smallest country in the Middle East; it is about 30 miles wide and 135 miles long. Lebanon produces almost all of its food. The farmers cut flat fields out of the steep hillsides and mountain slopes. The Lebanese population contains a blend of Muslims and Christians. All festivals from Eid to Easter are celebrated in the company of friends, family, and food. Lebanese do most of their shopping in street markets called souks in Arabic. Different types of goods are grouped and sold in souks. There are different streets for spice sellers, perfume sellers, meat sellers, and vegetable and fruit sellers.

The writer then explains the different cooking utensils used in Lebanon. Colander, sieve, and slotted spoon are some common cooking utensils. After this, the author takes us straight to a Lebanese table, emphasizing that it is always crowded. A table is crowded with friends and family and also with a vast array of dishes. Dishes of all shapes, sizes, flavors, and aromas greet the guests. The writer then presents recipes grouped under lunch or dinner. After leafing through the book, I short-listed what I wanted to make for the event. I had first heard about Bulgur from Manasi’s blog. And then this book introduced me to yet another dish. I asked all my friends going for grocery shopping to fetch me some “Bulgur”. Absolutely no one had heard about this grain before and I had a jolly good time pronouncing it for everyone. No one could locate bulgur in any of the shops and my enquiries to the shop helpers yielded blank expressions. My joy knew no bound when hubby located bulgur in the “Mediterranean” section of Meijer.

Bulgur is one of the most popular foods in Lebanon. Here’s the recipe for a refreshing salad that is part of Lebanese cuisine.

Bulgur Salad/Tabbouleh

Ingredients (Serves 6-8)
1.2 cups bulgur
2.1 onion, finely chopped
3.4 large tomatoes, chopped
4.1 cup scallions, finely chopped
5.2 small cucumbers, peeled and finely chopped.
6.½ cup olive oil
7.6 tbsp lemon juice
8.1 tsp salt
9.½ tsp pepper
10.6 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
11.3 tbsp chopped fresh mint or 1 tbsp dried mint

Method
1.Place bulgur in a colander and rinse under cold running water. I did not have a colander, so I simply washed the bulgur in a utensil. Press bulgur between your hands and remove excess water. Return bulgur to colander and let it drain over a bowl for one hour. Discard the drained water.
2.In a large mixing bowl, combine bulgur with all remaining ingredients.
3.Place mixture in a large serving bowl. Chill before serving.

This goes straight to Meeta’s table as an entry for the “Arabian Nights” MM. Meeta, thanks for hosting the MM with this wonderful theme!

Kadhai Vegetable served with a meme

2007-04-05T20:29:00.000-04:00

Here are two facts about me:

A.I love spicy vegetables
B.I love colorful vegetables. I like to combine the green, orange, and white colors in my cooking.

One such vegetable that meets both the above criteria is Kadhai Vegetable. Again, a very authentic Punjabi dish, which is served in restaurants loaded with oil. This vegetable is a mix of many vegetables and spices. My dad had described this vegetable after his visit to Delhi. I used to envy him sitting at a dhaba, devouring all the parathas, lassi, and sabzis. It seems that the restaurant style vegetables, for which we pay 40 bucks or so, are available at much cheaper rates at these dabhas. Dad told me that a group of 4-5 people can have everything from a starter, main course, to dessert for a mere sum of 100 bucks. Moreover, all the vegetables are fresh and have a very different taste. Talking of dabhas, I remember the scene in the movie “Sarfarosh”. Where Aamir and his team of agents disguise and visit a dabha to catch the guns dealer. The fight that follows is amazing. I simply love that movie and can watch it N number of times. I love such patriotic movies with happy endings and beautiful songs. Mom shouts at me every time I watch the movie. I mean she also loves it, but she doesn’t understand how I don’t get tired of watching the same thing again and again.

I have not been fortunate to visit Delhi and sit on a deewan to savor these Punjabi dishes. So far, I have been content with eating out in restaurants. Here, in the US, getting authentic, decent Indian food is still difficult. I have been to some Indian joints where the only thing I found common with the Indian restaurants is that they both seem to use stale vegetables. Isn’t cooking at home so much better and easier? Plus, we get to watch the oil that goes into our food. And the thrill of experimenting:)

Coming back to the sabzi, I think it is named so as it is served in a kadhai:). No, a far more convincing reason is that you add kadhai spices such as coriander, cumin, red chilli, and black pepper. Yeah, the sabzi does require some time and effort in the kitchen, but drag your husband to help you and you are good to go. That’s what I did last time I made this sabzi and P murdered the cauliflower and smashed it ruthlessly. In his own words, “Maine unka namonishan mita diya” P is a great help in the kitchen, but he tends to get lazy and impatient at times, especially if his favorite movie is on the TV.

Here’s the recipe for Kadhai Vegetable, again from Sanjeev Kapoor’s “Simply Vegetarian”. My entry for “K” for Nupur’s A-Z series.

Kadhai Vegetables

Ingredients
1.10-12 French beans
2.2 medium sized carrots
3.2 medium sized capsicums
4.¼ medium sized cauliflower
5.3 large sized tomatoes
6.2 medium sized onions
7.¼ cup shelled green peas
8.3 red chillies (whole)
9.1 tbsp coriander seeds
10.1 tsp cumin seeds
11.12-15 cloves garlic
12.2 one inch pieces of ginger
13.3-4 green chillies
14.A few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves
15.4 tbsps oil
16.½ tsp turmeric powder
17.1 tbsp coriander powder
18.1 tsp red chilli powder
19.Salt to taste
20.1 tsp garam masala powder

Method

1.String and wash French beans. Peel and wash carrots. Wash, halve, and deseed capsicums. Cut all the vegetables into ¼ th inch cubes. Separate cauliflower into small florets and wash. Wash tomatoes and chop roughly. Peel, wash, and slice onions. Wash and drain green peas. Remove stems and break red chillies into two.
2.Grind coarsely three of the red chillies with coriander and cumin seeds. Peel and wash ginger and garlic. Remove stems and wash green chillies. Clean, wash, and chop coriander leaves.
3.Grind half of the ginger with garlic and green chillies. Make julienne of the rest of the ginger.
4.Heat oil in a pan. Add the coarsely ground masala (coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and red chillies). Add sliced onions and sauté till golden brown.
5.Add ginger-garlic-green chilli paste and sauté for one minute. Add the vegetables except capsicums and tomatoes and stir. Cook covered on low heat till carrots are almost done. Sprinkle a little water if necessary.
6.Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, and red chilli powder. Stir continuously. Add tomatoes, salt, and half cup of water. Cook till the vegetables are cooked and water dries up.
7.Add capsicums and cook for 4-5 minutes on low heat. Sprinkle garam masala powder.
8.Serve hot garnished with ginger julienne and coriander leaves.

I have been tagged for a meme by a wonderful friend, who shares my name. Swapna has tagged me for the “Things I do daily” meme. Here’s what I do daily:

1.Get up early like an obedient wife and make chapattis for hubby’s lunch box. Also, make his breakfast and coffee.
2.In the evening, I change my avatar and become not so humble and obedient. I nag and pester and shout at him to keep his shoes, clothes, bag, and jacket in the right place.
3.Miss and think about my parents every single day.
4.Thank God for making me smart, beautiful, intelligent, kind..oops, I ran out of lies:). No, but I do thank God for making me physically fit.
5.Admire nature from my balcony in whichever form I can – be it the setting sun, the chirping birds, the beautiful trees, the howling wind. After all, “What is life if full of care, you have no time to stand and stare”:)
6.Check my blog a dozen times. I think that’s the only reason why the visitor count increases:). Sometimes, feel proud of my blog and feel great when I receive wonderful comments. I do a daily blog patrolling too.
7.Scratch my head to come up with some good dishes for all the blog events.
8.Watch TV, read, cook.
9.Fight with hubby, and then make up. Tease and trouble him, he does the same to me.
10.And last, but not the least, SMILE:). That’s what I do every single day.

Thanks a lot Swapna for tagging me! I enjoyed writing this meme. I am tagging Nupur, Manasi, and Richa for this meme. I hope you girls continue it.

Simply savory - Tomato Koshimbir

2007-04-01T17:13:00.000-04:00

Before I start blabbering, a small announcement. I will be going to India for a month long trip and will be off blogging. Anyways, I will be visiting all your blogs to see what’s cooking in your kitchens:)
When “Tomatoes” was declared as the ingredient for this month’s JFI, I thought of all the dishes I could cook. I wanted to cook something exotic for this event, but I was busy and could not come up with something exquisite. Anyways, I finally thought that I wouldn’t be sending any entry for the event. I was sulking yesterday, and today was even worst. That’s when I remembered taking some snaps. For JFI, I am presenting a very simple recipe that is ready in 10 mins. Mom used to make this often as a replacement for sabzi. This would normally happen when she was running late in preparing dinner.

I don’t know what Koshimbir really means, but I think it is a salad to which you add tadka. You can make koshimir using any combination of veggies. We usually made tomato or cucumber koshimbir. This koshimbir tastes great with chapattis or rice. Here’s what you will need:

Ingredients:
1.1 tomato
2.1 onion
3.½ cup crushed groundnuts
4.¼ tsp red chilli powder
5.Salt and sugar to taste
6.Oil
7.½ tsp mustard seeds
8.Pinch of asafetida
9.¼ tsp turmeric powder
10.¼ tsp lime juice

Method:
1.Finely chop the onion and tomatoes. Combine them in a bowl.
2.Add crushed groundnuts, red chilli powder, salt, and sugar to the tomato-onion mix. Mix well.
3.Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add asafetida and turmeric powder. Pour this to the tomato-onion mixture. Add lime juice and mix well.
4.You can also add chopped coriander leaves to enhance the taste.

This is my entry for JFI: Tomatoes hosted by RP of My Workshop.

Safety moment in my kitchen

Yeah, I know I am late. And I hope that Jyothsna accepts my late entry. Here are a few tips for general safety in the kitchen:
1.Do not lift the lid of the cooker immediately after the whistles. Let the pressure subside for 15 minutes. Always remove the whistle and then take off the lid.
2.Do not keep hot pans in the sink and start the tap. The steam may hurt your hands.
3.Don’t be careless while using knives and forks. Don’t keep them on beds, sofas, or chairs. You know what will happen if you do:)
4.Check that your fire alarm is working fine.
5.Use gloves while cleaning the cooking range. Harmful chemicals in the cleaning soap may hurt your palms.
6.If you are done with frying, be extra attentive to switch off the gas. My friend’s kitchen caught a fire as she forgot to turn off the gas after frying.
7.Double-check to see if you have turned “On” the right stove. In US, we have the concept of “Front” and “Rear”. Often, it is confusing to know which gas is on.
8.Always use your baking gloves while removing anything from oven.
9.Unplug electrical appliances after use.
10.Clean up your kitchen if you happen to break some glass.
Wish you all happy and safe cooking!

To all those who believed that I was going to India, WISH YOU A HAPPY FOOL'S DAY!:)

Jalfrezi Paneer

2007-03-30T15:29:00.000-04:00

This is one of our favorite vegetables. So much so, that we end up making it every time we get paneer. The home-made version of this sabzi is definitely better than the hotel one; which comes with floating oils.

Jalfrezi or “dry fry” is an Indian curry in which marinated pieces of meat or vegetables are fried in oil and spices to produce a thick, dry sauce. You can use bell peppers, onions, paneer, French beans, or any of your favorite vegetables.

If you are making Paneer Jalfrezi, you can either use home-made paneer (cottage-cheese) or store bought fried paneer. Here’s how you can make panner at home:
Making Paneer

You will need 1 gallon of milk and 1/3 to ½ cup fresh lemon juice. Bring milk to a boil in a large pan. Reduce the heat to low and, while gently stirring, add the lemon juice. When the milk separates into cheese curds and yellowish whey, remove the pan from the heat. Line a strainer with a triple thickness of cheesecloth 22 to 24 inches square. Using a slotted spoon gently transfer the large pieces of paneer into the strainer, then slowly pour the smaller bits and whey through it. Gather the corners of the cheesecloth and tie the cheese into a tight bundle. Rinse the paneer curds with a slow stream of water to remove the lemon taste. Gently squeeze out the excess liquid. Place the cheese into a slanted surface draining into the sink. Neatly fold the cheesecloth over the cheese to make a flat, square parcel and balance a heavy, flat weight on top of it. Drain and press the paneer until it is firm. Refrigerate it. You can cut the paneer into ½ or ¾ inch cubes and shallow fry them in ghee or oil. (Extracted from “India – The Vegetarian Table” by Yamuna Devi).

I used store-bought fried paneer. The recipe for Jalfrezi has been adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor’s “Simply Vegetarian”.

Jalfrezi Paneer

Ingredients
1.400 gms Paneer – cut into cubes
2.2 medium tomatoes
3.2 medium capsicums
4.2 medium onions
5.½ tsp ginger paste
6.½ medium bunch coriander leaves
7.2 whole red chillies
8.3 tbsp oil
9.1 tsp cumin seeds
10.1 ½ tsp red chilli powder
11.½ tsp turmeric powder
12.Salt to taste
13.1 ½ tbsp vinegar
14.1 tsp garam masala powder
Method
1.Wash and cut tomatoes, onions, and capsicums into slices.
2.Clean, wash, and chop coriander leaves. Remove stems and break red chillies into two.
3.Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds. When they change color, add red chillies, ginger, and onions. Sauté till the onions turn golden brown.
4.Now, add the red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Stir well and add capsicum. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add paneer and toss. Add salt and vinegar and cook for 2-3 mins. Stir in the tomato pieces and garam masala powder
5.Serve hot with chapatis.

This is my entry for the letter “J” for Nupur’s A-Z series. Hope you like it!

Revamped...

2007-03-27T13:01:00.000-04:00

Since a long time, I wanted to change the look of my blog. I am not happy with any of the templates that Blogger offers. It took me some time to figure out the HTML codes. But, finally I did it! I added a new header, changed the page background color, added a site meter to the blog. Do let me know how you find the new look. I tend to use too many colors sometimes. So, any kind of feedback is appreciated:)

I is for......?

2007-03-23T01:01:00.000-04:00

Hmmm..this was a tough one. I racked and racked my brains to come up with some vegetable starting with “I”. All I could think of was “Idli”. But, it’s a snack, not a vegetable. So, I cancelled it. All the while I was thinking that maybe there’s something popular that I am not remembering right now. I waited for a few days, hoping for a miracle. Alas, nothing did. I also tried the following options:

1.Ate hubby’s head to come up with something starting with I. He said, “Idli”..duhhh…

2.Asked a couple of friends. Again, no positive outcome.

3.Searched my recipe books (I have only 4)..but found nothing suitable.

4.A Google search for “Vegetables starting with the letter I” also turned disappointing.

5.Thought of cheating and renaming some dish, but again couldn't think of any:(

And then finally it stuck me. Back in our courtship days, I and P used to frequent many restaurants and try different dishes. We are both food lovers. We relish eating everything from mocktails, soups, starters, main courses, and ofcoz the dessert. For us, no meal is complete without a dessert. On one such expedition, we tried something new and instantly liked the dish. You can classify it as a starter, snack, or vegetable. This dish is a wonderful blend of the South-Indian and Chinese cuisine. Yes, it uses idlis too. I think you must have guessed it by now. Recipe adapted from here.

Idli Manchurian

Ingredients
1.8 Refrigerated or hard idlis
2.½ cup Cornflour
3.½ cup all purpose flour (Maida)
4.1 ½ tsp Soya sauce
5.¼ tsp Ginger
6.¼ tsp Garlic paste
7.Oil to deep fry

For gravy
1.1 big Onion
2.5 Green chillies
3.1/4 tsp Ginger paste
4.¼ tsp Garlic paste
5.1 Capsicum
6.½ cup spring onions
7.½ tsp Soya sauce
8.1 tbsp Oil
9.2 tbsp Cornflour
10.½ tsp red chilli sauce
11. Salt to taste

Method
1.Cut idlis into small squares. You can use instant mix to make the idlis. I always prefer making the batter from scratch using 2:1 ratio of rice and udad daal.
2.Mix maida, cornflour, ginger garlic paste, soya sauce, and very little salt with water to a medium batter. The batter will be very sticky and stiff.
3.Dip idli pieces in this batter and deep fry till golden brown. Drain on paper napkins.

(Fried Idlis)
4.Finely chop onion, green chillies, capsicum, and spring onions.
5.Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add onions, green chillies, and ginger-garlic paste. Fry for some time. Add capsicum and fry till cooked.
6.Add the soya sauce, red chilli sauce, and fried idlis.
7.Add 2 cups of water to the cornflour and mix thoroughly. Pour this in the idlis. 8.Add salt and spring onions. Boil this mixture till the gravy thickens.
9.Serve hot with rice or enjoy as a snack.

Idli is a South Indian snack famous all over India. It is a popular breakfast item. Idlis are steamed and cooked in a special utensil called the “Idli Stand”. Served with sambhar and chutney, idlis should always be consumed hot. There are several varieties of chutney that can be served with Idli – garlic, coconut, mint, red-chilli to name a few. There’s a famous joint named “Mani’s” near Ruia college, Matunga. It serves tastiest Idlis I have eaten so far. The best thing about this joint is that it offers free refills of sambhar and chutney. Idlis are prepared and devoured in many forms such as masala idlis, fried masala idlis, vegetable idlis, and kanchipuram idlis.

Manchurian is famous vegetable gravy from China. The gravy is a bit sticky and has a distinct ginger-garlic flavor. I have eaten three kinds of vegetable Manchurian up till now; made from cabbage, cauliflower, and idli. In cabbage Manchurian you make vegetable balls of cabbage and add them to the gravy. In Gobi Manchurian, dip cauliflower florets in the batter and fry them before adding to the gravy. Vegetable Manchurian is usually served with rice and noodles and consumed hot. Manchurian reminds me of the famous political movie named “The Manchurian Candidate”. I was greatly impressed with the story, suspense, and the ending of this movie.

Idli Manchurian combines the softness of Idlis, the crispiness of fried idlis, the freshness of vegetables, the garlicky taste of the gravy, and the stickiness of cornflour to form a wonderful filling dish. Idli Manchurian is my entry for Nupur’s A-Z series. Mark your calendars for next weekend for the letter “J”. Yippy, I still remember A,B, C, D:)

A Pineapple A Month

2007-03-21T12:12:00.000-04:00

AFAM (A Fruit A Month) is a popular blog event by Maheswari, that focuses on one fruit every month. Bloggers need to come up with dishes with the fruit as the main ingredient. This month the focus was on Pineapple.

(Photo from Wiki)
I wonder why a pineapple is named so. Is it because of all the pines on this fruit or as it tastes sweet and tangy like the apple? My quest took me to Wiki where I discovered a plethora of information on this fruit. Pineapple or Ananas Comosus is called so as it resembles “pine cones”. This tropical fruit is native to Brazil and Paraguay.
Here’s what I found interesting in the Wiki article, “The World War II Mark 2 hand grenade was commonly known as the "pineapple" because of the grooves cut into its surface. Ian Fleming employs "pineapple" as a slang term for a grenade in the James Bond novels.”

Pineapple is available in many forms today – crushed, chunked, or drained. It is used in juices and milkshakes. It is the main ingredient in many cakes and desserts. Whether you eat it raw or use it in any form, this juicy fruit is delicious. Removing the outer covering is a pain and it’s better to get it removed from the fruit vendor. Juice stalls in Mumbai sell a special fruit dish; a concoction of varieties of fruit pieces. These include pineapple, apple, and melon topped with a chat masala.

If you have visited any Maharashtrian wedding, you must have spotted a table full of beautiful artifacts. This is called the “Rukhwat”. Rukhwat contains special gifts for the bride such as utensils, home-made sweets, poems, special messages, and best of all gifts and handiwork made by family and friends. I always love making a rukhwat item for a near and dear one. You can include anything such as a painting, show-piece, or embroidery work. I remember making one such rukhwat item for my Tai (elder cousin sister). I and Mom used a Parachute oil bottle. We cut 1-inch long pieces of yellow plastic material, folded these pieces, and stuck them in a circular fashion on the oil bottle. They soon took the form of a pineapple. The top was covered in green plastic leaves. I wish I had a photo to share with you, but my description will have to suffice for now.

Coming back to the event. This is my entry for AFAM. Here’s the recipe for a savory raita:

Pineapple Raita

Ingredients
1.1 tsp oil
2.1/4 tsp mustard seeds
3.1/2 tsp ginger paste
4.1/2 cup canned pineapple, finely chopped
5.2 tbsp pineapple syrup, from the can
6.1 cup yogurt, beaten till smooth
7.Salt to taste
8.1/4 tsp red chili powder, to taste
9.5-6 curry leaves

Method
1.Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow to splutter.
2.Once they stop spluttering, add ginger, curry leaves, chopped pineapple and the pineapple syrup.
3.Simmer on low heat for 3 minutes or until thick.
4.Remove from heat. Allow to cool.
5.Add yogurt into a bowl and beat till smooth. Add salt and red chilli powder to the yoghurt and mix well.
6.Pour the above mixture in the yoghurt and mix again.
7.Serve chilled with Jhatpat Pulav.

Jhatpat Pulav is named so as it is ready in a jiffy and tastes similar to the authentic pulav. This pulav is a discovery of my friend B. We used to make this pulav when we were bored of eating daal-chaval. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
1.1 cup rice
2.½ cup frozen vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, and French beans)
3.1 ½ tsp Biryani Pulav paste (We use Priya brand)
4.Salt to taste
5.1 tsp ghee

Method
1.Wash the rice in 2-3 changes of water.
2.Defrost the veggies and add to the rice.
3.Add the masala paste, salt, and ghee. Add water and stir well. Taste the water to check if you need to add more salt or masala.
4.Pressure cook for 1-2 whistles.
5. Mix well.
Jhatpat Pulav is ready. You can add chopped potato to the rice. Tastes even better.

To all my blog buddies:I would like to know what Pineapple is called in your mother tongue. It's called "Ananas" in Marathi. Do share the names alongwith the pronounciation:)

Happy Gudi Padwa!

2007-03-19T17:23:00.000-04:00

As spring knocks our door, we welcome the New Year and worship the Sun. Yes, it’s New Year for us. I am feeling kind of nostalgic, sitting here far away from home. I am missing all the sweets, celebrations, and the cute little gudi that we hang outside our door.
(Pic from 123Greetings.com)
We used to get a holiday on Gudi Padwa; our school administration being full of Maharashtrians. After taking bath, we used to pray to the Gudi and offer flowers and haldi-kumkum to it. Mom used to give us a neem leaf to eat. I and my bro used to touch our parent’s feet and then I used to command him to touch mine:) Mom mostly prepared basundi on this day. Read in details about Gudi Padwa here.

I welcomed the New Year by trying a new sweet - Rava Kesari. Some time back, we had invited our friends (P and S) for dinner. P came carrying a thali full of orange colored barfis, which tasted delicious. These friends have helped us a lot since we shifted into the new apartment. Be it taking us to the store for grocery shopping, lending things, or being guinea pigs for all my cooking adventures:)A special thanks to both of you. P pointed me to the recipe for making rava kesari. Here’s out it turned out:

This sweet is ready in a jiffy – took just 20 minutes to prepare. I did not have orange food color, hence added saffron. I think I should have added just a bit more saffron are my sweet is looking more yellow than orange. Taste delicious, nonetheless. I decorated a plate full of sweets and offered them as Naivadya. I wanted to be the devoted wife and wait till P got home from office. But then, I tasted one barfi, forgot all my devotion, and gobbled 5-6:)

This day is also special for me and hubby as we got engaged on this day last year:).

A very Happy New Year to my parents, friends, relatives, and my blog buddies!

Navavarshyachya Hardik Shubheccha!

Roll Baby Roll

2007-03-17T14:56:00.000-04:00

This month Rooma made us do some extra rolling exercises, when she chose “Rolling” as the topic for MBP. This is the second time I am participating in MBP. For blog events, I always try to make something that I have never tried before. I had seen a few interesting recipes and they were in my “Must-try” list. MBP gave me a chance to make and savor them.

Introduction to the rolling pin: A rolling pin is a wooden cylindrical utensil, with handles at both ends to roll out dough. Don’t mess up with the person handling the rolling pin or it may come swirling at you:) Rolling pins are used daily to roll out chapattis. Other uses include making parathas, theplas, puris, and papads.

I was introduced to the rolling pin when my mom was after my life to learn chapattis. She used to keep aside some dough everyday and make me roll out at least 2 chapattis. And I would use all my strength to roll out the dough. I can still imagine her standing next to me giving all those instructions, “Roll a bit on the edges”, “Don’t roll more in the center”, “Don’t use so much pressure” and on and on. What used to start out with a small round chapatti soon used to loose all shape and turn into a perfect amoeba:( That is when I started dreading the rolling pin. I stayed as far away from it as possible. I have to admit that I did not cook anything on a regular basis till I came to the US. Here, I learnt the knack of using a rolling pin and am quite comfortable with it now. Here are my two experiments using the rolling pin.

Aloo Gobi Paratha

Well, I make chapattis daily but still hadn’t tried making stuffed parathas. MBP gave me a perfect opportunity to experiment with veggies in the dough. My dear friend Manasi presented Aloo Paratha as her entry for the JFI. I made these with some variations.

1.I added half cup shredded cabbage to the mashed potatoes.
2.Secondly, I heated oil and added mustard seeds, asafoetida, and turmeric powder to it. Then I added some curry leaves and poured this mixture to the mashed veggies. I also substituted green chillies with red chilli powder.

Results: The experiment was totally successful. P was a bit skeptic about adding the cabbage, but became happy when he tasted the parathas.

Vegetable Frankie

I was introduced to this Mumbai snack in my school days. I used to go out with a couple of friends for a round of Shivaji Park. Our evening used to end with a visit to the Tibbs stall near the park. While my friends used to munch on their chicken frankies, I used to enjoy my veggie Frankie. The stall-version contained extra oil and used to come wrapped in paper. Frankie is basically, veggies rolled into a roti and then fried together. When I described this snack to my mom, she came up with a recipe of her own. Mom used to make them on weekends when we used to get bored eating chapattis. When I had described her method to my hubby, he demanded his mom-in-law to treat him with this snack. And, he had completely loved it. Later, I browsed through Nupur’s blog and found her recipe for Frankie. I combined my mom’s and Nupur’s recipe and made delicious veggie Frankies this weekend. I had asked P to bring Spinach from the store and I wanted this to be a surprise for him. Whilst I was busy with the preps, he was standing next to me playing a guessing game. He took at least 15 guesses before he guessed it right, and by that time I was almost done with the snack:). Yes, this recipe does take a lot of time, but it’s worth the effort. Here's the recipe:

For the paratha
1.1 cup cut spinach
2.2 cups wheat flour
3.3 tsp besan
4.½ tsp red chilli powder
5.¼ tsp turmeric powder
6.¼ tsp ajwain
7.¼ tsp ginger paste
8.¼ tsp garlic paste
9.Salt to taste

For the vegetable stuffing
1.2 medium potatoes
2.1 big onion
3.½ capsicum
4.½ cup peas
5.½ tsp mustard seeds
6.Pinch of asafoetida
7.Salt to taste
8.¼ tsp ginger paste
9.¼ tsp garlic paste
10.½ tsp red chilli powder
11.¼ tsp turmeric powder

For the paste
1.1 tbsp all purpose flour (or corn flour)
2.Water

Making the stuffing
1.Boil the potatoes and peas. Mash them together. Finely chop the capsicum and onion.
2.Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida, and turmeric powder. Add the onions and fry till light brown. Add the ginger and garlic paste.
3.Next, add capsicum, mashed potatoes and peas, red chilli powder, and salt. Fry for some time.

Making the parathas:
1.Mix together all ingredients and make firm dough. Use enough oil.
2.Make small balls of the dough and roll out parathas.
3.Semi-cook both sides of the paratha on a pan.

Assembling the Frankie
1.Make a paste of all-purpose flour and water.
2.Add some cooked vegetables on top of one paratha.
3.Spread the vegetable on the paratha. Don’t spread more on the edges.

4.Roll the paratha and seal one end with the paste. You can also seal the bottom on one side.

5.Heat a pan and add some butter. Fry the assembled Frankie on both sides till it is crispy.

6.Add some chopped onion and chat masala on the Frankie and serve hot with ketchup.

Results: Super-successful and savory. A must-try if you haven’t tasted this before. Definitely better and healthier than the street stall Frankie.
Thanks Rooma for hosting this MBP!

H is for...

2007-03-17T13:17:00.000-04:00

For H, I choose a simple vegetable that combines the flavors of harbhare and coconut. Harbhare, or chana as called in Hindi, is used in a funny context. When friends praise you and you start walking on clouds, they will say, “Aye, chane ke zaad pe mat chadna”. Usal is any preparation that uses cooked sprouts. Usually, usal is prepared by making a “vatan” – a mixture of veggies, coconut, and spices. You can add tomatoes to make gravy.

Harbharyachi Usal

Ingredients
1.1 cup harbhare/chana
2.½ cup grated coconut
3.1 onion
4.1 tsp cumin seeds
5.1 tsp mustard seeds
6.Pinch of asafoetida
7.½ tsp turmeric powder
8.1 tsp red chilli powder
9.1 tsp garam masala powder
10.1 tbsp cut jaggery
11.Salt to taste

Method
1.Soak one cup of harbhare overnight.
2.Pressure cook for 3 whistles. Drain all the water.
3.Take around 10-15 harbhare and grind them in the mixer. Finely chop the onion.
4.Heat a pan. Add the grated coconut and cumin seeds and fry till the coconut turns light brown.
5.Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add asafoetida and turmeric powder.
6.Add onion and fry till it turns golden brown.
7.Now, add the harbhare, the grinded harbhare, salt, jaggery, red chilli powder, and garam masala powder. Mix thoroughly.
8.Add the grated coconut, cumin seeds mix. Add ½ cup of water.
9.Cook till the water evaporates. Garnish with coriander.

Chana Chaat: You can use some harbhare to make this chatpata chat. Take some harbhare, add finely chopped onion and tomatoes, red chilli powder, salt, and pepper.

Need for spice

2007-03-13T21:16:00.000-04:00

Do you experience the sudden urge to eat something spicy at times? I had this uncontrollable urge this evening, and we were out of snacks. There were no chips or spicy snacks in the house. And I had to, had to eat something I liked. So, off I went rattling my brain in search of something spicy and tangy.

I didn’t have to think too much. For a long time now, I had been meaning to make my favorite snack – Dadpe Pohe. This is a different kind of Maharashtrian snack. My mom used to make this for Sunday breakfast. My dad had this irritating habit of starting the TV for the 8o’clock Rangoli. I and my brother used to cover our heads with pillows. But, dad used to increase the volume. Finally, after many groans and complaints, we used to get up. Then the four of us used to have the normal discussion of what to make for breakfast. Now, my bro likes the normal batate pohe, but I would any day prefer dadpe pohe. So, after much cajoling I used to have my way and mom used to make dadpe pohe. I have to tell you that this dish is so easy to make and taste delicious. I used to gobble down at least 4-5 plates:-). Here’s the recipe for my favorite Sunday breakfast.

Dadpe Pohe

Ingredients
1.3 cups thin poha
2.1 medium onion
3.1 medium tomato
4.3-4 green chillies
5.1 cup grated coconut
6.1 tsp red chilli powder
7.½ tsp turmeric powder
8.¼ th tsp garam masala powder
9.½ cup groundnuts
10.1 tbsp lime juice
11.1 tsp cumin seeds
12.½ tsp mustard seeds
13.Pinch of asafoetida
14.Salt and sugar to taste
15.Oil for frying

Method
1.Wash the poha. Finely chop the onion and tomato. Finely chop the green chillies.
2.Add the onion, tomato, and grated coconut to the poha.
3.Add sugar, salt, red chilli powder, and garam masala powder to the poha. Mix thoroughly.
4.Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin and mustard seeds. When they begin to splutter, add asafoetida, turmeric powder, and green chillies. Add the groundnuts and fry for some time.
5.Pour this mixture in the poha and mix thoroughly.
6.Add lime juice and mix again.

Verdict: Hubby had not eaten this poha before. When he tasted it, he found it similar to Bhel. He loved this snack. It’s a must try for all those who haven’t tasted it before. It takes just 15 minutes to prepare. Hope all of you try it and like it too!

"G" of Indian vegetables

2007-03-10T14:57:00.000-05:00

When I thought of G, I thought of gajar, gobhi, and green peas. Out of this, I picked green peas. There are so many other vegetables that go well with green peas. I love aloo matar, matar paneer, and dahi aloo matar. Anyways, as my entry for the letter G in Nupur’s A-Z series, I chose to make a combo that I love whole-heartedly. Here’s the recipe adapted from a wonderful book by Sanjeev Kapoor.

Green Peas with Mushrooms

Ingredients
1.Green Peas – 1 cup
2.Button mushrooms – 15
3.Onions – 2 medium sized
4.Tomato puree – ½ cup
5.Ginger paste
6.Garlic paste
7.Cardamoms – 4
8.Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
9.Red chilli powder – 1tbsp
10.Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
11.Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
12.Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
13.Salt to taste
14.Oil

Method

1.Wash and drain green peas. Wash and cut the mushrooms into quarters. Finely chop the onions.
2.Heat oil in a kadhai. Add cardamom, cinnamon, and chopped onions. Saute till the onions turn golden brown.
3.Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for half a minute.
4.Add the tomato puree, red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, and salt. Cook till the oil leaves the masala. This recipe calls for using cashewnut paste, but I didn’t use it as it adds a sweet flavor.
5.Add one cup of water and bring it to a boil. Add the green peas and mushrooms. Cook on high heat till the peas are fully cooked. Serve hot.

Carrot cake for my bunny

2007-03-09T11:45:00.000-05:00

When I had seen the theme for this month’s MM, I had smiled to myself. I wanted to bake a cake for my hubby’s birthday, which was on 7th March. It was the perfect opportunity – to bake a cake for him and participate in the MM. Some weeks back, our friend S had baked a superb carrot cake for a potluck. I was greatly impressed. Unlike my baking experiments in which I got a ready made cake mix from the store, this guy had baked this delicious cake from scratch. For those who have not tried carrot cake or those who have been put off by it, let me tell you that it tastes wonderful. This cake is my contribution to Meeta’s Monthly Mingle.

I was on the lookout for a decent carrot cake recipe. A Google search for “Carrot cake recipe” yielded many results out of which I short listed this. I was all set to start baking on the afternoon on 6th March.

1.The first and most painstaking task is carrot shredding. The recipe calls for using baby carrots and though I knew how difficult that would be; I wanted no compromises in this cake. You have to be really careful while shredding the carrots; I almost grated my fingers once or twice. You will need almost a whole bag of baby carrots.

2.Next combine the oil, sugar, vanilla, and eggs and beat well. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and mix well. The batter is super stiff at this point, so much so that you can hardly mix it.

3.Pineapple adds moisture and sweetness to this cake. Open the can of crushed pineapple. Add the shredded carrots, drained pineapple, and 1/2 cup walnuts to the cake mix and mix well. The batter will start to soften.

4.Apply butter on all sides of the baking pan. Sprinkle some all-purpose flour in the pan. Pour the batter in the pan and level it. The amounts of ingredients mentioned in the recipe were suitable for a 13*9 inch pan. I was using a 9*9 inch pan and used up the remaining batter to make 12 cupcakes. This is how the batter looks before baking:

5.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

6.Bake the cake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes. Insert a knife in the cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready to be devoured. Cool the cake for 10-15 minutes.

7.You can make cream cheese frosting. I used store bought Vanilla Frosting. Apply the frosting evenly on all sides of your cake.I chopped some carrot pieces and used them for decoration. The cake looks kind of made by a school girl:) Refrigerate the cake.

Verdict: Hubby cut the cake at 12 o’clock. Happy Birthday, Hubby! It was delicious and savory. The batter tasted too sweet on tasting, but the baked cake could have used a little bit more sugar. There is no bitter taste of all the carrots and the frosting makes the cake even more delicious. The pineapple and walnuts added an extra flavor to the cake, so don’t miss out on the pineapple. The entire baking and frosting process took around 3 hours. We sent the cupcakes to our dear friends, who also loved them.

Baking adventure # 1

2007-03-05T22:13:00.000-05:00

Yeah, we baked a cake. After getting comfortable with cooking vegetables, mastering perfectly round chapattis, I decided it was time to try my hand at baking. I feel cooking is just like walking – you take one step at a time.

My hubby has been gifted with a sweet tooth. We have a Fresh Market right across the street and I have a tough time every time we go there. First, he spends at least 15 minutes staring at all the desserts. Then he wants to buy everything. When I decline, he literally behaves like a five-year old, looks all sullen and sad. Finally, I have to drag him away from the store. I promised him that I will make something that he always feels like buying from the store – a banana nut cake.

I bought a few things that are common in almost all the cakes – vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, and confectioner’s sugar. I also bought different baking pans (this costs around 2$ each in the Dollar Store),a measuring cup, and a blender. With this, I was all ready to start my first baking adventure. Here’s the recipe (adapted from here) for a wonderful banana nut cake:

Banana Nut Cake

Ingredients
Wet ingredients
1.2 ripe bananas
2.6 Tbs. melted butter
3.1 tsp. vanilla extract
4.2 large eggs

Dry ingredients
1.1-1/3 cup all purpose flour
2.1/2 tsp. baking soda
3.1/4 tsp. baking powder
4.2/3 cup sugar
5.1/2 tsp. salt
6.1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method
1.Combine and whisk together all the dry ingredients except for the walnuts.
2.Mash the bananas, melted butter, and vanilla extract together.
3.Lightly beat the eggs together.
4.Mash the banana mixture with the eggs until smooth and well blended.
5.Pour the banana mixture onto the dry ingredients. Add the walnuts (reserve some for adding on top of cake).
6.Thoroughly mix all the ingredients.

7.Apply butter on all sides of the baking pan. Sprinkle some flour.
8.Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
9.Sprinkle some walnuts on the batter.

10.Bake for 55 minutes at 350°F.
11.Insert a wooden toothpick or knife in the center of the cake. It should come out clean.
12.Cool the cake for ten minutes.

13.Remove the loaf from the pan.
14.Wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for 4-5 days.

Verdict: The cake turned out absolutely Y-U-M-M-Y. While the cake was baking, our whole house was filled with its delicious smell. I and hubby were so excited, that we were opening and checking the oven every 7-8 minutes. The cake soon started disappearing before our eyes.
This is a wonderful snack for tea-time or a nice dish to serve your guests.

Too many cooks...

2007-03-02T13:02:00.000-05:00

Heard the old saying, too many cooks spoil a dish? Well, I don’t think so. Too many cooks give too many suggestions, but they also have too much fun, laughter, and sweet memories of cooking together. My sweet friend M, who happens to be an expert cook, was going to India. And instead of us giving her a farewell treat; she thought she would give us all a treat. She wanted all of us to get together at her place and cook something special. Well, some of our non-Maharashtrian friends had heard so much about puran poli and M was the only one who could make it from scratch to end..So, puran poli it was going to be.

Puran Poli is the traditional Maharashtrian dish made from stuffing jaggery in wheat balls and then rolling the flour. This dish is mostly made during Holi. I remember shouting “Holi re holi purnachi poli” when the holi was set afire. Kannadas refer to this sweet as Holige, while Telugus call it Obbattu. Whatever you call it, the truth remains the same – puran polis are everyone’s favorite. The stuffing can be made of coconut and jaggery, or white sugar (pithi sakhar), or of lentils. More about puran poli on Wiki. Puran polis are always served with a generous helping of ghee. I like to dip them in milk or pour the milk over the poli so that they literally melt in my mouth.

Puran poli reminds me of Holi back in India that I am so much going to miss this year. My mom makes puran polis every year. She makes the puran the previous day and on the day of playing colors (Rangapanchami) my dad uses the puran yantra (a manual machine with a handle) and softens the puran. Mom starts making polis once we go out to play colors and stops after we come home some 3-4 hours later. After we consume 2-3 polis, our eyes become too droopy..Yes, all the ghee and puran definitely makes you sleepy..so, we do nothing else but take a long afternoon nap and then wake up to eat more polis for dinner. And yes, we sure keep some for the next day..they taste more delicious.

Over the years, I started helping Aai make the polis. I learnt how to fill the dough but always kept messing up. Well, this time I wanted to see, learn, and experiment everything from start to end. So, off I went to help and enjoy. Our other friends started coming one by one, and soon the kitchen was filled with 7-8 females helping out with different stages of making the polis. Here’s the recipe and some photos. This is my entry for Trupti's Spring Fling 2007 event.

Holi special - Puran Poli

Ingredients
Makes around 25-30 polis
For the puran
1.1 kg chana daal
2.¾ kg jaggery
3.1/4th tsp nutmeg powder
4.1 tsp saunf powder
5.1 tsp cardamom pwder
6.1 tsp soonth (ginger powder)
7.Ghee

For the flour
1.5 cups wheat flour (maida optional)
2.Pinch of salt
3.Water

Method

1.Wash the chana daal in 2-3 changes of water. Cut the jaggery. Check if you have powders of all other ingredients; else grind them in the mixer.

(Cut jaggery)

2.Pressure cook the chana daal with one whistle. Set aside for some time. Check if the daal is so cooked that of you mash it with your finger, it gets mashed, but doesn’t turn into pulp. Drain the water only if it is excess, otherwise preserve it for cooking.

(Jy and Pa transferring the daal)

3.Cook the daal on medium flame. Add jaggery. Keep stirring from time to time.

4.After some time, add all the powders.

5.Keep stirring so that the daal doesn’t stick to the bottom of the vessel.

(Me stirring the daal)

6.The daal will thicken after an hour. Take a wooden spoon and place it in the daal. If it stands on its own without falling, it indicates the puran is ready.

7.Now, comes the difficult part. Mash the puran using the chopper, puran yantra, or masher. The puran should turn soft.

(Pa mashing the puran)

(Va churning the puran in our make-shift churner)

8.Make dough of the flour just like you make for making chapattis.

(Dough made by Sm)

9.Make small balls of the puran.

10.Take a little bit of dough at a time and roll it into small chappatis.

(Me and As making small chapattis)

11.Now, comes the fun-filled and challenging part. Hold the small chapatti in your hand. Bring your fingers closer so that your hand forms a cavity (similar to a lotus).

12.Add the puran in this chapatti. Close the chapatti from all sides. Press lightly from both sides.

(M filling the puran)

(Me and Sm filling the puran)

13.Dip both sides into flour. Roll the chappati delicately. Sprinkle flour from time to time. If your chapatti splits open from somewhere, patch it up with flour.

(M rolling the poli)

14.Heat a flat pan. Place the poli on the pan and cook on both sides. Pour ghee while cooking.

(Sh cooking the poli)

(Done..ready to eat)

15.Serve hot with ghee and milk.

(Looks delicious, eh?)

Verdict: The puran polis were simply delicious. I learnt doing everything – filling the puran, rolling the dough. The entire process from start to finish took approximately 5 hours. But don’t let the time and efforts daunt you – puran polis are definitely worth all the effort.

We also made katachi amti (a spicy curry made from puran), rice, and saffron milk alongwith the puran poli. So, it was a memorable feast all in all. Thanks M for making it happen!

Wish you all a colorful and happy Holi! May your life be filled with bright colors througout the year!

JFI: Potato

2007-03-01T12:03:00.000-05:00

Being a new blogger, I am slowly getting to know all the blog events. When I visited the blogs of some food bloggers, I used to get confused reading terms like JFI and MBP. Then I got accustomed to these terms. JFI (Jihva for ingredients) is a wonderful monthly event that focuses on a new ingredient every month and people need to cook a dish with the decided ingredient as their main ingredient. There’s so much you can cook with a single ingredient – soups, starters, vegetables, desserts, parathas..your creativity is the limit. When I saw the ingredient for this month’s JFI, I was very excited to participate. I knew that our hostess Vaishali was going to be flooded with recipes:)

Potato, the world’s most famous tuber, with its rich nutritional values is a part of our daily diet. Potatoes contain lots of carbohydrates and starch. They also contain abundant vitamins and minerals. Potatoes are produced in a plethora of varieties including russet, long white, red, and Yukon gold. Potatoes can be cooked in a number of ways – peeled, cut, boiled, and mashed. Stay away from potatoes that have any kind of green spots – these can prove to be toxic.

Potato reminds me of a childhood game called “Batatyachi Sharyat”. It is game of collecting potatoes placed one after the other. It reminds me of snacks like sev batata puri, batata wada, batata bhajji, aloo tikki; of aloo paratha, dum aloo, samosas..It reminds me of a silly song,"Jab tak rahega samose mein aloo, tab tak rahega Bihar mein Laloo"..My teachers often used the expression that a not so intelligent kid's head is filled with potatoes and onions..Potatoes remind me of the street vendors yelling "Kanda Batataaaaaaaaa".There are so many dishes that you can prepare using potatoes. Anyways, I decided to make simple, quick, and easy-to-make vegetable using potatoes. Here’s my entry for JFI - Potatoes.

Batata Rassa

Ingredients

1.4 potatoes
2.1 big onion
3.2 tomatoes
4.2-3 green chillies
5.½ tsp mustard seeds
6.½ tsp cumin seeds
7.Asafoetida
8.¼ tsp turmeric powder
9.¼ tsp ginger paste
10.¼ tsp garlic paste
11.½ tsp red chilli poweder
12.½ tsp garam masala
13.Salt to taste
14.Sugar
15.Oil for frying

Method
1.Boil the potatoes and cut them into big pieces. Finely chop the onion and green chillies. Cut the tomatoes in huge pieces and puree them in the mixer.
2.Heat the oil in a pan. Add the mustard and cumin seeds. When they splutter, add a pinch of asafoetida and turmeric powder.
3.Add green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Fry for some time.
4.Add the chopped onions and fry till the onions turn golden brown.
5.Now, add the tomato puree, red chilli powder, garam masala, salt, and a pinch of sugar.
6.Stir for some time on low flame.
7.Add the boiled potatoes and some water. Boil for some time.
8.Garnish with coriander.

Till then,looking forward for the next JFI!

(E)gg Pakoras

2007-02-23T12:29:00.000-05:00

This is my contribution to Nupur’s A – Z series. I was first introduced to this dish when a friend tried them and got us some for tasting. We have a lot of bachelors staying nearby, and I must say that some of them are really great cooks. I have seen them baking cakes from scratch, trying different cuisines, desserts, vegetables. In fact, all of us out here are learning to cook and when something turns out good, we send out a portion for sampling and feedback:-) Anyways, I was intrigued when my friend made egg pakoras and was waiting to try them out. You can really make pakoras with anything – onion, potato, cabbage, mushrooms, eggs, moog, and so on. These egg pakoras are extremely tasty and serve as a good evening snack or a wonderful starter in a full course meal. Here’s the recipe:

Egg Pakoras

Ingredients
1.4 boiled eggs
2.½ cup besan
3.1-2 finely chopped green chillies
4.½ tsp cumin seeds
5.¼ tsp ajwain
6.¼ tsp turmeric powder
7.¼ tsp coriander powder
8.¼ tsp red chilli powder
9.Salt to taste
10.Oil for frying

Method
1.Cut the boiled eggs in two halves.
2.Add all the ingredients in besan (except oil) and make a thick batter.
3.Heat oil on medium flame. Dip the boiled eggs in the batter. Make sure that the batter sticks on all sides of the eggs. Fry till golden brown and drain oil on paper.
4.Serve with ketchup.

Pineapple Sheera

2007-02-18T19:04:00.000-05:00

My nearest and dearest cousin sister got engaged today. I and Nunu, as I called her when were kids, have been closer than real sisters. When we roamed together, people used to think we were twins. We have shared a lot since childhood. Unfortunately, I won’t be with her to share her special days. I will be missing her wedding in India scheduled for May:-(. Anyways, I thought I would make something sweet to share in her joy of getting engaged.

There have been a few pineapple slices sitting in my fridge for a long time, and I didn’t know what to do with them. I didn’t want to make pineapple milkshake, as it sounded too simple. Yesterday, I went to a friend’s place and the topic got to the famous ICH canteen in Seepz. This canteen serves pineapple sheera every Monday and Friday. I remember eating loads of this sheera. The sheera used to get over too soon, so you would have to wait for the next week to taste it. Well, that’s when the idea struck me that I would make this sheera. This one’s for you, Nunu.

Pineapple Sheera

Ingredients
1.Rava/Semolina – 1/2 cup
2.Sugar - 1/4 cup
3.Water - 1 cup
4.Pineapple – 1/2 cup, cut into small pieces
5.Pineapple Essence - 1 tsp (optional)
6.Ghee – 2.5 tbsp
7.Cashewnuts - 1 tsp, broken into small pieces.
8.Raisins - 1 tsp
9.Orange/Yellow colour powder - a small pinch (optional)
10.Saffron

Method
1.Boil the pineapples till they become soft. Drain the water and preserve it for boiling.
2.Heat a pan on low flame.
3.Add ghee to the pan. When it becomes slightly hot, add cashewnuts and raisins. Fry for some time.
4.Add rava to the pan and fry till rava turns brown. The moment it starts turning brown add sugar, boiled pineapples, and water. Stir till the rava thickens a bit.
5.Add cardamom powder and saffron.
6.Serve hot.

The sheera turned out delicious:-)

"Love actually" is all around

2007-02-15T17:43:00.000-05:00

Valentine’s Day is one very special day for me. Two years back, my husband proposed me on this day. I still remember the nervous look on his face. As for me, I was down with cold and doing nothing else but take care of my leaky nose:P After saying the golden words, he opened a bag full of gifts – a book I wanted to read, a CD of my favorite songs, chocolates, and roses. This day started our wonderful relationship (touchwood!).

Since the time I have known him, he has been the most understanding person in this world. He’s been my best buddy- always caring, supportive, putting up with my temper tantrums, jovial, teasing me, and much more. This Valentine’s day I showed him my appreciation for all that he has done for me by cooking something special. I made phirni, chole, and tomato rice. Here's the recipe for the rice:

Tomato Rice

Ingredients
1. Basmati Rice- 1 cup
2. Onions, 2 medium sized - sliced
3. Tomatoes, 2 - chopped finely
4. Red chilli powder - 1- 11/2 tsp
5. Cinnamon - 1/2 to 1" piece
6. Cloves - 3
7. Bay leaves - 2
8. Black cardamom - 1 whole
9. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
10. Green peas - 1 small cup (optional)
11. Cilantro or coriander leaves - 1/4 bunch, chopped fine.

Method
1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Add bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon & cardamom.
3. When the cloves pop, put in the sliced onions & fry till light brown.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes & fry well till the tomatoes are soft.
5. Put in the ginger garlic paste & the red chilli powder & fry well.
6. Add the washed rice, green peas (optional), cilantro, salt to taste & the required amount of water. Mix well & allow it to cook till the rice is done.
7. Serve hot with onion, tomato & cucumber raita.

We enjoyed a beautiful candlelit dinner at home.Here’s the card I made for my hubby:

Valentine’s day is celebrated to tell everyone you love how much they mean to you. A big Thanks to my parents, little bro, friends, and relatives for being there for me when I needed them.

Treasure Hunting with MBP

2007-02-13T19:58:00.000-05:00

Well, let me count…..it’s five whole months. I have not eaten decent samosas in five months. I landed in US five months back, and before coming here, I had made a list and devoured every junk item that I thought I wouldn’t find in the US. I did eat some samosas here, but they were pathetic and very, very oily. So, it’s been five months since my heart and tongue have been craving for samosas and for a total junkie like me, five months is a long wait.

And now, thanks to MBP and my blog buddy Rooma’s recipe, I made and ate delicious samosas right at home:-). I am new to food blogging and in the process of discovering all the blog events. When I came to know about MBP and the theme for this month, I saw it as a perfect opportunity to make something that I had been longing for. I loved the theme for this month – finger foods. I love eating food with hands. In fact, I don’t find my tummy filled if I eat something with a knife and fork. I have had some awkward moments while attempting to eat vadas with a fork, the vada just got air-borne and landed on the nearby table:-)

I was on the lookout for a samosa recipe. I loved Rooma’s recipe and the step-by-step instructions. I wanted to surprise my hubby and chose to make samosas for evening tea. The whole process took close to an hour. One variation that I made was that I added a little bit of ajwain to the masala. Also, I kept the gas on low flame while frying the samosas.

The samosas were fun to make and turned out just as I had wanted them to. Imagine, hubby’s surprised look when he came home to find hot samosas waiting with tea!

Veg Hakka Noodles and a meme

2007-02-12T12:30:00.000-05:00

Weekend lunches usually consists of simple pulav, sandwiches, omlettes, or anything that takes less time. We are too busy watching movies and try to make something that is easy to make. Anyways, this weekend was a bit different. I made Veg Hakka Noodles. Again, a very simple dish, that tastes divine, nontheless.

My love for the Chinese food stems from my love for anything that has lots of colors in it. I love the green, saffron, white colors of all the veggies. Here's the recipe:

Veg Hakka Noodles

Ingredients:
1. One pack of Hakka noodles
2. One cup of shredded cabbage
3. One cup of thinly sliced green capsicum
4. Half cup of cut carrots
5. Half cup of cut spring onions
6. Half cup of thinly sliced onions
7. 1/2 tsp ginger paste
8. 1/2 tsp garlic paste
9. 2 tbsp soya sauce
10.1 tbsp red chilly sauce
11.1 tsp vinegar
12. Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Boil water. Add noodles to water and boil them for 2 minutes.
2. Drain water from the noodles. Add 1 tsp oil to the noodles and keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan.
4. Add carrots, cabbage, capsicum one after the other and let them cook.
5. Add onions, ginger, garlic and fry for some time.
6. Add salt, pepper, spring onions and keep stirring. Now, add all the sauces.
7. Add the noodles and mix all the ingredients.

Following the meme from Nupur. Five things that you don't know about me:

1. I can finish a whole bag of chips in no time:-)
2. I cannot cut my nails using a nail cutter. Either, I use a scissor, or worse a wire cutter.
3. I have a good sense of direction. I never forget a place once I have visited it.
4. I have this irritating habit of placing leftover onions beside the apple. My husband frowns upon this habit and I get a shouting atleast twice a week.
5. And now, something positive. I am a lazy person, but once I decide to do something, nothing can stop me!!!

Do continue this meme.

Potluck for Vasant Panchami

2007-01-25T22:42:00.000-05:00

Two days back, I went to a lunch potluck – the second one I attended with the mahila mandal out here. I recently joined this group of terrific homemakers, and I am sure I will have loads of fun with them in the future too.

My first potluck with the group was on last Tuesday. It was a lunch potluck to celebrate Makar Sankranti. I was supposed to make starters and I opted to make pakoras. Wanting to try my hand at something new, I made Moong pakoras in addition to potato pakoras. I won’t write much about this potluck here, except that all the food was lovely, and we had a great time chatting and exchanging recipes.

Today’s potluck was arranged on the occasion of Vasant Panchami. We were supposed to dress in yellow and cook something that looked yellow. Vasant Panchami is celebrated to welcome spring. Goddess Saraswati - the goddess of knowledge is worshipped on this day. We should also worship our books. My friend informed me that children are not supposed to study on this day. Can they have a better excuse?:) We made a small pooja of Saraswati. Yellow and white are favorite colors of Saraswati, hence the importance of wearing yellow and cooking a yellow colored dish.

When my friend told me about this potluck, I decided to cook fried idli. Later on, I was thinking that I could also have made potato poha or pithala. Anyways, my mom always used to make these idlis (which are almost like dhoklas), that I used to love and I wanted to make those. This is a minor variation from the normal idlis and taste divine. Here’s the recipe:

Fried Masala Idlis

Ingredients

For the batter:
2 cups rice
1 cup udad daal
1 cup besan
½ cup curd (yoghurt)

For the masala:
Ginger paste
Paste of 4-5 green chillies (You can add more as per your choice.)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon red chilli powder (You can add more as per your choice.)
Pinch of soda
½ teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste

For frying:
Oil
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
Pinch of asafoetida
½ teaspoon turmeric powder

Method:

Soak 2 cups of rice and 1 cup of udad daal in water for 4-5 hours.

Churn the above ingredients in the mixture, without draining the water.

Add 1 cup besan and half cup curd to the above batter. Ferment this for 10 hours.

Add all the ingredients listed under “For the masala” in the above batter. Mix well.

Pour this mixture in the greased plates of the idli stand.

Steam cook for 20 minutes.

Remove the idlis from the stand and let them cool for some time. Cut the idlis into two pieces (you can leave them whole, if you want).

Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin and mustard seeds, a pinch of asafoetida, and ½ teaspoon turmeric powder.

Shallow fry the idli pieces on both sides.

Enjoy the fried masala idlis.

Everyone liked these idlis. We had a grand feast with dishes including khichdi, tamarind rice, boondi raita, laddu, and pakoras. We enjoyed playing dumb charades after this feast. Overall, a super potluck with loads of food and fun.

My birth

2007-01-25T18:37:00.000-05:00

Hello,

I am a food blog and I was born today. Come and visit me.

Yes, I finally decided to create a food blog. I have another blog, "Dreams come true", where I had posted 1 recipe. I want to post more recipes and be an active participant in the world of food bloggers. So, I created this one!

I stumbled into the world of food blogging while searching for a recipe. I have been having a good time reading all the food posts. The blog events sound exciting and fun to do. I got major inspiration for creating this blog by visiting food blogs of Nupur, Manasi, Ashwini, Vaishali, and Meeta. I am not a gourmet chef, but I have found a new passion in cooking. I love experimenting with new stuff.

So, join me in my cooking experiments.

Bon Appetite

Swad

The year that went by...

Bye bye kitchen

Daily Daal

Thalipeeth

Tikhat Shankarpale with memories of Dussera

The purple beauty

Tried, tested, and devoured

Blogger buddies

Cooking from other blogs for my parents

Peach Iced Tea

Eggs in a nest

AFAM Grapes round-up

Kelyacha Sheera

A curry and a drink

Weaving friendship through Cranberry-nut upside down muffins

Fodnicha Bhaat

Farasbi Harbhare bhaji

RCI Orissa round-up

Announcing AFAM-September

Jeera Pakhala

Jeera Pakhala

Reminder RCI: Orissa

Announcing RCI

Matar Paneer

Matar Paneer/Green peas with cottage cheese

Xploring Kohlrabi

Spicy kohlrabi stew with tomatoes

Me, Myself, Swapna

Preserving the love for pickles

Capsicum Masala

Capsicum Masala

Strawberry Coldsweet

Strawberry ColdsweetServes: 3Ingredients

Danyachi Amti

Danyachi Amti/Peanut curry

A taste of my homeland

Zunka

Bhakris

Vegetable Pulao

Vegetable Pulao

Going lite on the tummy

The ultimate comfort food – Metkut Bhaat

Metkut

Upma

Matar Upma

Taco Soup

Taco Soup

Happy Birthday, Meeta!

Jalebis

Schezwan Dosa

Schezwan Dosa

MBP: Something sweet

The king of fruits

Mango Burfi

Mango Lassi

Quesadillas with mushrooms

Quesadillas with mushrooms

P is for...

Papeta-Pur-Eedu/ Eggs on potato baked dish

Pattice

Paneer Biryani

Paneer Biryani

Palak Pakoras

Palak Pakoras/Spinach Fritters

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Papad Pohe

Papad Pohe

Omelette with veggies

JFI: Greens

Palak Paneer

RCI: Tamil

Tamarind Rice/Puli Satham

Green Peas with lovage seeds/ Nagapatinam Patani

Spiced Buttermilk/Morru

Moogacha bhaat (Moogambhaat) with Kalan

Kalan

AFAM - Apple

Safarchandachi Bhajji/ Apple Pakoras

Strawberry Coldsweet
Serves: 3

Ingredients