Enjoy Indian Food

Bhinda ni Kadhi

2008-07-24T04:41:00.001-05:00

Bhinda Ni Kadhi

Okra Buttermilk Soup

Ingredients

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup water

2 tbsp besan/chickpea flour

salt to taste

sugar to taste

7 - 9 fresh okra/bhindi/bhendi/bhinda/bhenda/Lady's fingers, cut into two pieces, slit

2 fresh, green chilies, slit

Tempering

1 tsp oil

1 tsp ghee

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1" cinnamon

3-4 cloves

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

1" ginger, grated

Method

0. Churn yogurt, water and besan to make the buttermilk without any lumps.

1. Heat oil & ghee in a saucepan.

2. Add all the ingredients for tempering.

3. As the cumin seeds start spluttering, add slit green chilies and okra.

4. Saute on a low flame till okras are cooked and are brownish in color.

5. Add yogurt mixture, salt, sugar.

6. Keep stirring on a low flame till mixture comes to a rolling boil.

7. Switch off the gas.

First Okra glistening

Ullel - Cucumber Raita

2008-07-23T04:37:00.001-05:00

Cucumber Ullel

Cucumber Raita - South Canara way

Ingredients

3 small or 1 big cucumber, peeled & diced

1 green chili, chopped

1" ginger, peeled & minced

salt to taste

Grind to a coarse paste

1/4 cup fresh coconut

2 byadgi chilies, roasted quickly in 1/2 tsp oil

1 tsp tamarind pulp

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Tempering

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Method

1. Mix cucumber, salt, green chilies & ginger. Keep aside.

2. Grind the masala to a coarse paste, without adding any water.

3. Stir in the ground masala in the cucumber mixture.

4. Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add mustard seeds. Let them splutter.

5. Add sizzling oil in the raita and stir. Cover.

Note -

1. Do not make this raita too much in advance. As time goes by, there will be a lot of moisture due to cucumber.

2. For the traditional flavor, use coconut oil.

Cucumber plant showing off its first baby cucumber

Thali Peethzza

2008-07-21T05:32:00.003-05:00

What do you do when you want to sneak in those grains and legumes and beans in your little one's tummy, but all she wants is the Italian food all the time? You take your desi recipes and give them an Italian makeover!!;-) You rename it as "Italian Thali Peethzza" served with Marinara sauce. Your little one enjoys this version and name!!;-)

Thali Peethzza
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Thalipeeth Bhajni
1 tbsp flax seeds powder
1 small onion, minced
1 carrot, peeled & grated
1/4 cup cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup spinach, shredded
salt to taste
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

1 tbsp part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated
Oil for shallow frying

Accompaniment
Marinara Sauce (Warm)

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients till Italian seasoning.

2. Add water and knead to a dough.

3. Make 8 or so equal sized balls.

4. Heat a griddle or frying pan.

5. Pat the ball directly on the griddle or place within folded plastic sheets and pat to a disc & then put on the pan.

6. With the help of the back of the spoon, make a 5 holes on the pancake.

7. Add a drop of oil in each of those five holes.

8. Place a spoonful of cheese on the pancake. Cover and let it cook on a low flame.

9. Flip and cook on the other side.

10. Serve hot with warm marinara sauce.

Notes -

1. Sometimes I also add chopped garlic and basil in the dough.

2. Poking holes on the pancake is the traditional method used in making Maharashtrian Thalipeeth. This method saves oil but still gives necessary oil for the pancake to cook evenly.

Per Mansi's rules, I need to state why I think this entry is healthy -

1. Thalipeeth Bhajni is a multi-grain, multi-legume flour that provides a generous serving of fiber, complex carbohydrates and proteins.

2. I add flax seeds in most of my cooking to get the Omega-3 benefits. I find flax seeds very neutral in taste. So they do not interfere with the taste of the dish that I am making.

3. This dish also includes some benefits from spinach, carrots, cabbage etc. It's very important to eat your veggies.

4. Part-skim cheese gives some protein and taste as well.

5. As mentioned above, poking those holes to add few drops of oil, limits the oil for making this pancake but still cooks it evenly.

This Thalipeethzza ( or my Italian makeover of humble Thalipeeth!) is my entry to Mansi Desai's Healthy Cooking Event.

GYO - Methichi Dushmi

2008-07-20T04:13:00.005-05:00

Dushmi is a Maharashtrian flatbread. My grandmother used to make several different dushmies like rajgiryachi dushmi, jwarichi dushmi, bajrichi dushmi, and of course, methichi dushmi. Each dushmi has some different ingredients which make them unique in taste from the rest, but the common factor that gives them the name "Dushmi" is that milk is used to knead the dough instead of water. Hopefully, I will cover all the rest of the dushmies as the time permits. But today, let's devour Methichi Dushmi from my homegrown Methi or fenugreek leaves.

Ok, here's what I did -

I just threw some fenugreek seeds in the soil.

Just some sunshine, water and voila!!! My own methi plant was ready to be harvested.

Here it is - Methi Plant 2008.

I am a very amateur gardener. I do not yet have a vegetable patch (in the soil) in my backyard. Somehow, I am really intimidated. I do only container gardening. Sometime, in future I wish to start digging. Let's plan it for 2009.

Methichi Dushmi

Fenugreek Leaves Flatbread

Ingredients

1 bunch fenugreek leaves/methi, rinsed, chopped

2 cups wheat flour

1 tbsp besan

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

A pinch of sugar

Milk to knead the dough - as needed

oil for roasting

Method

1. Mix flours, methi/fenugreek leaves, salt, chili powder & turmeric powder.

2. Add milk as needed to make a dough. Cover and keep aside for 10 minutes.

3. Make balls, roll into a thin disc.

4. Shallow fry using few drops of oil till brown spots appear on both sides.

5. Serve hot with plain yogurt (dahi), achar (lonache) or subzi (bhaaji)

Note -

1. More the fenugreek/methi, better is the taste.

This post is my entry for Grow Your Own - hosted at Jugalbandi

GYO event is started by Andrea of Andrea's Recipes.

JFI Flower Power - Bhoplyachya Foolanchi Bhaji

2008-07-17T06:00:00.003-05:00

I had completely forgotten about this bhaaji. Mom used to make it whenever Vasaiwala used to bring "pumpkin flowers". Vasai is located on the outskirts of Mumbai and vegetable vendor from Vasai is called Vasaiwala. He used to carry two baskets balanced on a wooden bar over his shoulders. He used to bring some organic, delicacies like pumpkin flowers, fresh rajma, fresh double beans, fresh chickpeas, drumstick leaves, turmeric leaves etc. His vegetables used to be fresh and were not available in our local vegetable market which boasted broccoli, celery and lettuce but unfortunately not the fresh Indian vegetables from the countryside.

The pumpkin flowers are considered a delicacy in Malvani cuisine. If it's bud, fritters are made and if it's a flower, stir fry is made.

This year, I planted some squashes. When the plant bloomed, I remembered mom's recipe. I called her and was surprised to know how simple this recipe was. So I gave it a try. Here it is.

Bhoplyachya Foolanchi Bhaji
Pumpkin Flowers Stir Fry
Ingredients
Few bunches of pumpkin or squash flowers, washed & chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
salt to taste
1/2 tsp tamarind

Tempering
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 small onion, chopped

Garnish
2 tbsp fresh coconut

Method
1. Heat oil. Add turmeric powder and onion. Saute till onion is soft but not burnt or brown.

2. Now add chopped flowers and saute quickly.

3. It will be cooked in less than 5 minutes.

4. Add salt, chili powder, tamarind.

5. Garnish with coconut

Note -

1. Even if you have a big bunch of flowers, generally the yield is very small after cooking. So, add salt, tamarind and chili powder after the bhaji is cooked to get the right proportion.

This post is my contribution to Jihva: Flower Power at Rachna's Soul Food.

Jihva event is started by Indira of Mahanandi.

Dudhi-Muth nu shaak

2008-07-15T14:34:00.007-05:00

I made it finally. I was not sure if I could meet Pooja's deadline, but I did it. :-)

This simple shaak is from South Gujarat. I like it for its simplicity.

Dudhi-Moth nu shaak

Bottlegourd-moth beans Stir Fry

Ingredients

1 fresh bottlegourd/dudhi/ghia/lauki, peeled, de-seeded & chopped

1 cup moth beans sprouts/Matki/Muth

1/2 tsp coriander-cumin seed powder

salt to taste

A pinch of sugar to taste

1 tsp ginger-green chili paste

Tempering

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp asafoetida

Method

1. Heat oil. Add cumin seeds & asafoetida.

2. Add chopped bottlegourd, moth sprouts & chili-ginger paste.

3. Add 1 tbsp water and cover and cook till the gourd is cooked but not squished.

4. Add coriander-cumin seed powder, salt & sugar.

5. Let all the liquid evaporate. Serve hot with hot rotlas.

Note -

1. If the gourd is very fresh, you do not have to add any sugar.

This post is my contribution to Pooja's VoTW - Bottlegourd Event.

Less is More - Maya's Cucumber Pancakes

2008-07-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

When Nupur announced "Less is more" event for the Monthly Blog Patrol Jul 2008, I thought it's quite an innovative theme. As I started looking for the bookmarked recipes from my blogger buddies, I realized that this event is rather addictive. It's fun to cook something quick, using less ingredients and celebrate the taste of the dish without overpowering & overcrowding with too many ingredients. Maya's "Tavahya Bhakri" was on my list for a long time (along with her many other recipes!) and it was perfect for the the current theme.

Original Recipe by - Maya

Blog - Konkan World

Recipe Source - Maya's Tavshya Bhakri

My modifications -

The original recipe called for coconut. Instead of coconut, I used ground flax seeds. For the health benefits, I am in love with these flax seeds and I use them from rotis to dosas, muffins to pancakes!

Ingredients used -
1. Rawa /semolina
2. Cucumber
3. Salt
4. Oil
5. Ground Flax seeds

Thanks, Maya, for this wonderful recipe!

This post is my entry to MBP : Less is more event at Nupur's One Hot Stove.

MBP is started by Coffee of The Spice Cafe.

Dudhi Halwa

2008-07-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

I make dudhi halwa using part-skim ricotta cheese instead of Indian khoya/khava/mawa.

Dudhi Halwa
Bottlegourd Pudding
Ingredients
2 cups peeled, grated bottlegourd/dudhi/lauki/ghia
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom powder
1 tsp ghee (optional)

7-9 charolis or 1 tbsp doodh masala or almond/pistachio slivers

Method
1. Peel and discard the seeds of the bottlegourd. Grate the gourd.
2. Steam the grated dudhi/gourd, adding 1/2 cup milk in a pressure cooker.
3. Add the steamed dudhi in a saucepan. Add ricotta cheese, sugar.
4. Keep stirring on a low flame till the liquid evaporates. Add ghee if using. Give a quick stir. Switch off the gas.
5. Add charoli or doodh masala and cardamom powder.
6. Serve hot or cold.

Note -
1. You can use more or less sugar based on your preference.
2. I use ricotta cheese when a recipe calls for khoya/khava/mawa. You can most certainly use khoya.
3. For dudhi halwa, my mom always uses charolis for garnish. I use anything from charoli, pista/almonds or doodh masala - whatever is easily accessible in my pantry!

My dudhi plant is growing in the container garden.

This post is my contribution to Pooja's VoTW - Bottlegourd Event.

PannoLi - A Gujarati Idli

2008-07-10T04:21:00.004-05:00

PannoLi is a protein packed steamed dumpling from Gujarat. I call it Gujarati Idlis. The batter is made from Moong daal and they are steamed in the idli stand lined up with banana leaves. I do not have access to banana leaves but do have fresh turmeric leaves from my container garden. So I made my fusion food of Gujarati & South Canara cuisine by lining it with turmeric leaves. Whichever leaves you use, don't forget to peel them off before eating!;-)

PannoLi
Gujarati Idlis
Ingredients
1 cup yellow moong daal
salt to taste
1 tsp ginger-green chili paste
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp plain yogurt

Tempering
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp chopped red bell pepper (Optional)

Garnish
1 tsp cilantro, chopped
1 tsp coconut, grated

Method
1. Soak moong daal in water for 6 hours.
2. Grind to a fine paste adding turmeric powder, asafoetida.
3. Stir in yogurt and chili ginger paste and keep aside for fermenting for 6 hours.
4. Grease idli container and line them with turmeric or banana leaves.
5. Add salt, baking soda to the batter.
6. Add to the idli containers. Steam just like you would steam idlis.
7. Take the pannolis out.
8. Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add the ingredients for tempering. Pour over the pannolis.
9. Garnish with cilantro and coconut.

Notes -
1. You can cut the leftover pannolis into four and add to the kadhi as shown below.
2. I did not use sesame seeds as I didn't have them in the pantry. But sesame seeds enhance the taste of the tempering.
3. You can use mag ni daal na dhokla batter to make pannoli.

This post is my contribution to Sangeeth's Eat Healthy:Protein rich event.

Rani Mukerji's Macher Jhol

2008-07-09T06:30:00.002-05:00

Last few weeks Bollywood bug has bitten us. We are catching up on a lot of Bollywood movies. So I thought of having this silly guessing game on my blog. Thanks, friends for playing along.

Only Juby was right. The recipe is by Rani Mukerji!! I am sorry, I couldn't give any more clues than "Bollywood Cuisine".

Gudiya too watched a few Hindi movies like "My Friend, Ganesha" and "Luv-Kush" (Animated). She saw some zatkas and matkas of Bollywoods Songs DVD. She asked me the meaning of "Ladki kyu na jaane kyu, ladkonsi nahi hoti..." (Hum Tum). Well, now translating Bollywood songs to a 4 year old is not an easy task for me. But I told her it's just a nursery rhyme! ":-D
"Sugar & Spice, & everything nice,
That's what little girls are made of!"
Well, since then that song and Rani both have become Gudiya's favorites!!:-D

Today's recipe of Macher Jhol is supposed to be by Rani Mukerji. Told you I am crazy!! :-) Now what are the chances that Rani Mukerjee would call me for dinner or vice versa? So I will never know if it's a real recipe or not:-D

I had got this recipe from Filmfare Online a few years back. Every single recipe is special to me. So I never threw it away. and made Rani Mukherjee's so called "Macher Jhol"!!:-)

Please take this recipe in a lighter vein.

Though I more or less followed the same recipe, I made it in a very small quantity using a Rainbow Trout. I also added some onions and ginger because that's what I remember eating at a friend's place.

Rani Mukerji's Macher Jhol
Bengali Fish Curry
Ingredients
1 kg River Fish, cleaned, sliced
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp kalonji seeds
salt to taste
80 gm mustard oil

1 onion, chopped
250 gm tomatoes, chopped
2 green chilies, slit

2 red chilies, halved

1 tbsp water
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp ginger minced
A small bunch of coriander leaves, chopped
Mustard oil for deep frying

Method
1. Apply salt and turmeric powder to the fish slices. Set aside to drain.
2. Make a paste with chili powder, turmeric powder, ginger and water.
3. Heat oil in a kadai. Deep fry fish slices till crisp.
4. Heat oil in a saucepan. When it is smoking hot, add kalonji.
5. Add spice paste and saute for 2 minutes.
6. Add tomatoes, slit green chilies and simmer till tomatoes are a mush.
7. Add the fried fish slices, cover and simmer on a low flame for 5 minutes.

8. Garnish with coriander leaves
9. Serve with plain rice.

Notes -
As mentioned above I do not know how authentic the recipe is, but I thought it's kind of fun to do Bollywood Cooking this way!! :-)
Credits :-

FilmFare Online

Guess the ..... Chef!!!!

2008-07-08T05:00:00.003-05:00

I am on break, enjoying summer. But thought of playing this guessing game. See if you can gues it right. I will be back sometime soon with the answer!!:-D This is my first guessing game. Hope you all will play along!!:-D

Recipe Name - Macher Jhol
Recipe By - Keep Guessing!!
Clue - It's Bollywood cuisine!!!:-D

Happy Independence Day, America!

2008-07-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

Image from here.

Happy Independence Day, America!!

Tamarind Plant

2008-06-30T06:00:00.004-05:00

I know you all are going to call me crazy. My husband may even endorse that!;-) but whenever I see seeds, I get an urge to plant them.

For Sig's Tamarind event, I didn't get the usual tamarind pulp at our local Indian stores. So I bought the tamarind with seeds inside. After using the tamarind for chinch ma gojju, I found five seeds inside that tamarind. I was too reluctant to throw them away. I planted them without expecting too much. In 3 days, the first one sprouted. and then it became a sweet little seedling.

After about a week or so, all 5 became little seedlings.

I have never seen a tamarind tree before. This is my closest encounter to my own tamarind "trees"!!:-D I was too excited to share my baby tamarind "trees". Aren't they cute?

Chinchma Gojju - Tamarind Sauce

2008-06-29T07:00:00.001-05:00

My grandmother always whipped up this "sauce" as an accompaniment for her "ketchup loving" grand kids. She knew that her grand kids would demand tomato ketchup and she did not really care much for ready made ketchup. We used to love her chinchma gojju.

Chinch Ma Gojju
Tamarind Sauce - South Canara Style
Ingredients
1/4 cup tamarind pulp
1/2 cup jaggery, grated
salt to taste
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 bunch cilantro

Tempering (Optional)
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Method
1. Grind tamarind pulp & cilantro together.
2. Add jaggery and grind again.
3. Add salt & red chili powder.
4. Add tempered oil, if using.

Notes
1. Actually, my grandmother never used any tempering. Let me confess, my picture wasn't coming out well without some addition of spices!!:-D
2. If using tamarind instead of pulp, soak it in the water and squeeze to get most of the tamarind juice & pass through a sieve.
3. The consistency of this gojju is thick like tomato ketcup. You can add some water to dilute it.

Check out my friend, Maya's Kotambari Paalya Gojju.

This post is my contribution to Jihva:Tamarind at Sig's Live To Eat.
Jihva series is started by Indira of Mahanandi.

Aamras

2008-06-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

A simple, tropical dessert which is mandatory during the mango season in India - especially in Gujarat & Maharashtra. If you are lucky enough to get fresh mangoes, squeeze them and take the "ras" or pulp/juice out, otherwise use the tinned pulp.

Aamras

Ingredients

1 tin mango pulp

1 tbsp milk

sugar to taste

a pinch of salt to taste

Accompaniments

Ghee (optional)

Method

1. Stir all the ingredients together.

2. Refrigerate.

3. Serve with puffed puris.

Note -

1. Many people (not me!!) love to add a few drops of ghee in their aamras.

2. Adjust sugar based on the unsweetened/sweetened variety of the pulp.

This post is my contribution to Meeta's Monthly Mingle: Mango Mania.

Thanks, Pooja V.!

2008-06-27T16:35:00.004-05:00

Last week, I got a pleasant surprise. My friend, Pooja V. of Khana Pina, sent me some authentic Goan goodies. Rechaedo masala, Xacuti masala,Achar (lonache) masala, & some spices too!! I can't tell you how excited I am.:-D

Thanks Pooja V. for your generosity. I will be cooking up a storm for sure!;-)

Panagam

2008-06-27T07:00:00.002-05:00

When I was reading an interesting book "Monsoon Diary" by Shoba Narayan , I came across the recipe for Panagam. It is a prasadam/drink served at the temples of Andhra Pradesh on Shri Ram Navmi day. It has dry ginger and jaggery. I do not know the significance of Shri Ram Navmi and dry ginger because I remember eating dry ginger powder mixed with sugar for Shri Ram Navmi prasad in Mumbai as well. We call it "Sunth Sakhar". Whether you make it dry sunth sakhar or panagam, that dry ginger is packed with a pungent punch!! I made this "Panagam" on the Ram Navmi day this year.

I also found an article written by Shoba Narayan with the following recipe here.

Panagam
Recipe by Shoba Narayan in Monsoon Diary
Ingredients
3 tbsp jaggery
1 pinch cardamom powder
1 small piece dried ginger
1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice
pinch of salt
1 cups water
Few strands of saffron (my addition!)

Method
1. Powder the jaggery and the dried ginger well.
2. Take water and add the above powders and the cardamom powder.
3. Add salt, and the lime or lemon juice.
4. Stir well and serve.

Note -
1. I added a few strands of saffron.
2. I halved the recipe.

This post is my contribution to RCI: Andhra Festival Foods at Vani's batasari.
Regional cuisines of India (RCI) event is started by Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine

Daal Maharani

2008-06-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

Packed with proteins, my version of this daal is for Sangeeth's Eat Healthy: Proetin rich event.

Daal Maharani
Ingredients
1/4 cup Toor daal
2 tbsp Moog daal
2 tbsp Masoor Daal
1 tbsp Vaal Daal
2 tbsp chana daal
2 tbsp Whole Moong/Mung beans
2 tbsp Rajma/Kidney beans
1 tbsp black whole urad
salt to taste

Tempering
1 tsp oil
1 tsp clarified butter/ghee
1 small onion
1" ginger, grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 red chili broken
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp chili powder

Garnish
1 tsp Cilantro /coriander leaves
1 tbsp evaporated milk (low fat)

Method
1. Pressure cook daals and beans adding double amount of water. (about 1 cups daal mixture will need 2 cups water).
2. Heat oil & ghee together in a pot. Add all the ingredients for tempering.
3. Add cooked, mashed daal.
4. Add 1 cup water, salt to taste.
5. Bring to boil. And then let it simmer. It should have a thick consistency.
6. Garnish with cilantro and evaporated milk.

Note -
1. For a richer version, you can make this daal in 1 tbsp ghee and add 2 tbsp heavy cream instead of evaporated milk.
2. Daals and beans approx. measure up to 1 cup in the above recipe.

This post is my contribution to Sangeeth's Eat Healthy:Protein rich event.

Phovva Usli

2008-06-26T06:00:00.001-05:00

This is a quick and different breakfast item from my grandmother's kitchen. If you are not familiar with it, the white color of ubiquitous, yellow "pohe" may baffle you. but if you like the tropical flavors of coconut and coconut oil, you may like it.

Phovva Usli - Serves 2
Ingredients
2 fists pohe/phovu/Phavva/flattened rice/pressed rice - use thick variety
salt to taste
A pinch of sugar.

Tempering
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
9 curry leaves, torn
2 byadgi chilies, halved

Garnish
1 tbsp to 1 fistful freshly scraped coconut :-)
1 tsp chopped cilantro/coriander leaves

Method
1. Pick and rinse the pohe and keep aside while preparing for the tempering.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Add all the ingredients for tempering.
3. As the mustard seeds start spluttering, add rinsed pohe and stir fry for a minute.
4. Add salt & sugar. Let it cook for 5 minutes
5. Serve hot adding generous amount of coconut and cilantro.

Notes
1. I use less coconut, but more the coconut, better will be the taste.
2. Use thick variety of poha for this recipe.
3. Both my grandmothers relied on their own hands for all the measurements. 1 fistful pohe is 1 serving. :-)

This post is my contribution to Raaga's WBB - Express Breakfasts.

MW Masoor Khichdi

2008-06-25T07:00:00.002-05:00

I just converted my mom's way of making masoor Khichdi for the microwave.

MW Masoori chi Khichdi
Ingredients
1 cup Masoor Sprouts
1 cup rice, rinsed & drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 small potato, peeled, diced
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp coriander-cumin seeds powder
salt to taste

Tempering
1 tbsp ghee/oil
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green cardamoms
1 stick cinnamon
4-5 black peppercorns

Garnish
1 tbsp cilantro/coriander leaves, chopped
1 tbsp fresh coconut, scraped

Method

1. In a Microwave safe casserole, heat 1 tbsp oil/ghee for 30 seconds.2. Add all the ingredients for tempering. Microwave 1 minute.3. Add onions. Microwave for 1 minute.

4. Stir once & add ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, turmeric powder & coriander-cumin seed powder. Microwave for 1 minute.5. Now add masoor, potato & rice and 4 cups water. Add salt, chili powder. & stir.

6. Microwave for 20 minutes.7. If there is still water, microwave for another 5 minutes.

8. Let it stand for 5 minutes. The pot will be hot.9. Garnish with cilantro & coconut.

10. Serve with raita, papadum & lemon wedge on side.

Note -

1. Microwave cooking time varies from microwave to microwave. The above times/proportions work well per our taste.

This post is my contribution to Easy Craft's Mixed Rice Varieties Event.

Nupur's MW Masala Popcorn for Tried & tasted

2008-06-25T04:15:00.001-05:00

I always make pop corns using the stove top method. Then while searching for "Tried & Tasted" event hosted by Zlamushka, I came across this masala popcorns at Nupur's One hot stove. So I had to try it. I knew it will come out great because the last recipe I tried from Nupur's was a super duper success. It's MW Sabudana Khichdi as I had mentioned here.

As I have said before, Nupur's was the first food blog, I had ever come across. So it's a special one. Thanks, Nupur!

Recipe by - Nupur

Blog - One Hot Stove

Recipe Link -http://onehotstove.blogspot.com/2007/11/sweet-snack-savory-snack-and-sweet.html

This post is my contribution to Zlamushka's "Tried & Tasted" event.

Saatori

2008-06-24T06:26:00.000-05:00

Saatori is khava/khoya or mava stuffed sweet chapati from Maharashtra. My grandmother used to stuff the leftover pedhas inside the chapati dough to make the delicious Saatori. I used the same method to make saatori. For more traditional version, you can roast the khava/khoya/mawa till the moisture is evaporated & then add sugar and after cooling it completely, use it as a stuffing.

Saatori
Khoya stuffed sweet chapati from Maharashtra
Ingredients

For the dough
1 cup wheat flour + some more for dredging
salt to taste
water as needed
1 tsp oil

For the stuffing
4-5 pedhas made from khoya
1 tsp milk (or as needed)

Method
1. Knead a dough and keep aside, covered.
2. If the pedhas are in the fridge, make sure that they are thawed and are at the room temperature.
3. Crush them completely and add milk to make the smooth stuffing. Make 4 balls and keep aside
4. Make a ball of the of wheat dough. Roll into a puri.
5. Stuff pedha mixture and roll it again to make a thick round roti.
6. Roast on a griddle on a very low flame.
7. Serve immediately.

Note -
1. Since pedhas already have the sugar and other spices like cardamoms, saffron etc, you do not need to add any more. but you can decide your own preference.

2. Do not add too much milk else the stuffing will be too mushy. Just add gingerly on need basis.

3. You can use leftover kaju katli to make kaju chi saatori.

This post is my contribution to Mythreyee's Sweet Series - Puran polis & sweet chapatis/rotis.

TBC's Bombay Toast for MBP

2008-06-23T06:36:00.000-05:00

I had eaten the same toast by the name "Spicy French Toast" at my aunt's. But don't tell my aunt, I like TBC's name better!! After all, it has the name of my beloved city where I was born and brought up!!! :-D

TBC says in one of her comments - "As for how the name came about, maybe it's cos it's is a very cheap, quick and common preparation sold by the food hawkers on the streets of Bombay. I believe this is also known as "anda-pav"

Recipe Name - Bombay Toast

Recipe by - TBC

Recipe Source -

http://thebuddingcook.blogspot.com/2008/02/bombay-toast-french-toast-indian-style.html

My Modifications -

1. I used olive oil instead of butter.

This post is my contribution to MBP-Street Food at Sia's

Sheve cha Ladoo

2008-06-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

Well, now the deadline for all the wonderful food blog events is coming up. So I am ending my Malvani Food Fest. I will post some more recipes as I get more time.

How about concluding this Malvani Food Fest on a sweet note? How about this Malvani Sheve cha ladoo? Yes, you read that right. It is actually the ladoo made out of yellow, non-spicy sev. Taste wise, it kind of reminds me of hard boondi ladoo. but it's less of a work than making boondis especially if you have yellow sev at home.

Sheve Cha Ladoo
Ingredients
2 cups yellow, non-spicy variety of Sev/Shev
1 cup jaggery, grated
1 tsp ghee

Method
1. Heat jaggery in a heavy bottomed saucepan on a low flame.
2. As the jaggery melts, add ghee & keep stirring.
3. Keep a cup with water ready. After about 10 minutes, add a small drop of melted jaggery in the water to check if it forms a hard ball.
4. If it does, add sev, switch off the gas.
5. Keep stirring so sev is mixed with melted jaggery.
6. Using greased hands, roll sev mixture into balls. you may need to do it while sev-jaggery mixture is still warm but not too hot.
7. Store in an airtight container.

Note -
1. Do not use very thin nylon sev. Use thicker than nylon sev (but not gathiya) variety.
2. You can decrease the amount of jaggery per your taste.

Amboli - A multigrain Pancake

2008-06-21T06:00:00.001-05:00

Amboli is a thick, multi-grain pancake. Traditionally, they are bigger than that shown in the picture above. I used a smaller pan/griddle.

Amboli

Ingredients

2 cups Amboli Flour

3 - 3 1/2 cup water (Approx.)

salt to taste

2 tbsp plain yogurt

Oil for shallow frying

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients. Make sure there are no lumps.

2. Cover and keep aside for 6 hours.

3. Grease a frying pan/griddle.

4. Pour a ladleful of batter to make a thick pancake.

5. Drizzle few drops of oil as needed. Cover and cook.

6. Flip and cook the other side.

Note -

1. Amboli is served with sweet kheers as well as spicy curries.

2. Add water gingerly. Remember the pancake needs to be thick.

These Ambolis are flying to Susan's Pancakes on Parade event.

Thanks, Asha, for letting me know about this event.