PatoLya

    हळदीच्या  पानातल्या पातोळया   (Stuffed pancakes steamed in  turmeric leaf)

 Turmeric or हळद /हल्दी  (Curcuma longa) is a herbaceous perennial plant from the Ginger family. Turmeric powder is made by boiling and drying fresh rhizomes of the plant by a lengthy process.
These leaves have a peculiar fragrance which gives a specific taste to the recipe.
Generally the fresh rhizomes are sown in the middle of May or before the monsoon begins, and you get these fresh leaves till monsoon is over. Then slowly the leaves turn yellow and you get the fresh turmeric rhizomes in the soil again which can be stored for the use in the following season.

Today is हरितालिका तृतीया, which is also called as 'TEEJ' in other states of India. The previous day of Lord Ganesha's arrival or Ganesh chaturthi. Goddess Parvati is offered this नैवेद्य .

Ingredients

5-6 fresh turmeric leaves

For the cover
1/2 cup rice flour
water to make a thick paste of the flour
a pinch of salt

For the stuffing
1/2 cup jaggery (grated)
1- 1 1/2 cup grated coconut
1-2 cardamoms(powdered)

Method
Heat the jaggery in a pan till it softens a little. Mix in the  grated coconut. Cook by stirring continuously on a low or medium low flame till it becomes dry so that it can be spread with a spoon ( not too dry).  You can add grated coconut if required to adjust the consistency. Let it cool.
Take rice flour in a bowl and slowly add water to make a thick smooth paste. Add salt to taste.
Apply little oil on the surface of each leaf.
Spread the rice paste over the leaf evenly with the spoon.
Spread the thin layer of the stuffing only on the half portion of the leaf as shown above.
Fold the leaf in half and press gently to close the sides.
Cook in a pressure pan/cooker without whistle/weight for 15-20 minutes.
Serve with sajook toop or ghee.

Gakar (Crispy wheat bread)

Yesterday while surfing the channels on television, I saw a program 'Khadyabhramanti' on E tv marathi. Mrs. Kalpana Zokarkar from Indore was singing in her sweet voice. In the same show she taught this recipe from Indore, a traditional one.

I just tried it in the evening and it tasted really nice. She used coarse wheat flour (जाडसर गव्हाचे पीठ ) I used regular wheat flour instead but it worked well.

Ingredients
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 tsp ajwain

1/2 tsp roasted तीळ /sesame seeds
salt to taste
2 tsp oil
1/4 tsp soda-bi-carb
2 tsp ghee/toop/clarified butter


For the dip
1/2 cup curd
2-3 green chillies (roasted directly on the gas stove and then cut)
salt and sugar(optional) to taste
oil, mustard seeds and asafoetida for the tempering

Method
Make a dough mixing all the ingredients using water. Don't make it too soft. Keep it covered for fifteen minutes.

Make small lemon sized portions out of it. Make a flat tikki by gently pressing between the palms. Make an impression with the thumb in the middle of the tikki( just like पेढा)
Heat ghee in the non-stick flat pan or tawa.
Arrange the tikkis on it.
Cover with lid and cook for 8-10 minutes on low flame.
Turn the sides and cook for 2-3 minutes more

For the dip, mix curd, salt and sugar. Add chilli pieces. Heat oil in an iron ladle or pali. Add the tempering and pour it on the curd mixture. Mix well and serve with hot tikkis.

Krishna

This is embossed on aluminium sheet and then painted with rustolene (a rust proof liquid).

All green paratha

It's raining heavily in Mumbai. Everywhere it's green. So I thought of going green in my kitchen too.

I used all greens from my fridge and pantry and made गरमागरम parathas for the dinner.

Ingredients I used

palak or spinach leaves

pudina or mint leaves
kothimbir or coriander leaves
kasoori methi or fresh fenugreek leaves

लसुणपात or garlic leaves

कांद्याची पात or spring onion leaves

ओव्याची पाने or owa/ajwain

बडीशेप or fennel seeds
green chillies

Method

All ingredients are used in small quantities and can be adjusted according to the availability.
All are finely chopped and mixed with wheat flour and salt to taste.
Knead a dough using water as required. I added 2 tsp of oil to make it soft.
Roll parathas of medium thickness and roast from both sides.
Serve with pickle or curd.

ALoo wadi (colocasia tikkis)

Recipes which take extra efforts are made occasionally ....say PuraNpoLi,  BiryaNi, Basundi or seasonally like Undhiyu, kandamooL or Rishipanchmichi bhaji, haLdichya panatalya patoLya etc.
ALoowadi  is not a frequently made item as it requires more time for preparation but no time to finish it. ( You get ready to fry उंडे or cooked loaf in many stores in Mumbai nowadays).

Today I harvested 5-6 leaves of colocasia or अळू in my kitchen garden and prepared aloowadi at home.

    Colocasia esculenta, a botanical name of अळू is a tropical plant grown or cultivated in wet soil. There are two types तेर अळू (with green stalk/stem)आणि वडीचे अळू (with the black stalk/stem)The rhizomes are called अळवाच्या मुन्डल्या ,arbi or arvi and are edible.
The plant cell contains needle shaped calcium oxalate due to which it itches when cooked without  tamarind or any sour ingredient. ( the calcium oxalate raphides dissolve in tartaric acid present in tamarind) Remember this we studied this in school.... so don't forget to use tamarind.

I used chickpea flour with coriander-cumin seeds powder, tamarind paste and jaggery with other regular ingredients.
You can also make a combination of onion-green chilli-garlic to make another tasty variety.

Make a thick paste of:
1 cup chickpea flour
2 tsp coriander seeds powder
2 tsp cumin seeds powder
2 tsp red chili powder or as per taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbl sp tamarind- jaggery paste ( soak tamarind in warm water for 10-15 minutes and then mix well and strain to add jaggery.)
salt to taste
water as required.

Method
Wash and wipe the leaves. Cut the stems.( the leaves used for making aloowadi are dark green in colour and slightly thicker than that are used for preparing bhaaji. The colour of the stem is black for the aloowadi leaves.) Take the biggest leaf and keep dark green side down with broad end towards you. Take the help of roller pin to suppress the veins of the leaf. Apply some tamarind water over it. Spread the paste evenly to make a thin layer all over the leaf. Put another leaf which is slightly smaller than the first one,with darker side down but now with broader end away from you. Press it gently with your palm and repeat the procedure.
You can arrange 6-7 leaves this way in the descending order of their size.
When finished with the leaves, fold both the sides (approx.1/4th) and make a tight roll of the stack starting from the end nearer to you. Apply paste on the sides and to the taper end so that it sticks firmly. You can use a string so the leaves will not unfold.
Cook the roll in a pressure cooker without pressure for 15-20 minutes and cut the slices after cooling it. Shallow fry or deep fry as per your requirement. You can arrange cooked wadis in plate and add tempering of little oil with mustard seeds and asafoetida .

For those who like the taste of garlic and don't use jaggery can make the paste this way...
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2-3 garlic cloves finely chopped
3-4 green chillies
avoid using jaggery, other ingredients and method remain the same.

Masala palak paneer

This dish is slightly spicy version of palak-paneer. I finely cut the spinach leaves  instead of blanching them.

 Ingredients

1. 1 bunch Spinach ( I used fresh from my kitchen garden )
2. You can discard stems if they are not soft and tender.
3. 2 tbl sp oil
4. 1 masala elaichi(cardamom)
5. 2-3 cloves
6. 3-4 peppercorns
7. 2 medium onions finely chopped
8. 1/2 " ginger piece- chopped
9. 4-6 cloves of garlic- chopped
10. 1 green chilli- chopped
11. 1 tbl sp kasoori methi
12. 3/4 tsp garam masala
13. 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
14. 1/4 tsp aamchur powder
15. salt and sugar to taste
16. 2 tomatoes chopped
17. 100 gm paneer-cut into 1" cubes
18. 1 cup milk/water

Tempering
1 tbl sp ghee/toop
1 " ginger Julienne
1 green chilli-slit
1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Method

• Wash spinach leaves in water thoroughly.
• Heat oil in a kadhai.
• Add ingredients from 4 to 6.
• Add onions and fry till golden brown.
• Add ingr. 8 to10 and stir on low flame.
• Add ingr. 11 to15 and stir well.
• Add tomatoes and cook till they blend well.
• Add spinach and cook uncovered on low flame for at least 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let it cool.
• Blend it with 1/2 cup water to a coarse paste.
• Add milk/water and paneer pieces to the coarse paste.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes so the paneer turns soft.
• Add salt and sugar if required.
• Transfer the contents in a serving bowl.
• Add the tempering.
• Mix and serve.

Masale bhat with dal

This masale bhat is same as shown in my earlier post. But this time I added 1/4 cup of masoor dal to enhance its nutritional value. I added pieces of one egg plant ( vange).So it was a one dish meal. I served this with  paneer hariyali

Paneer hariyali

This is a starter. Tastes yummy. Very easy and fast to prepare.

Ingredients
200 gms Paneer
2 tbl sp besan or chickpea flour
1tsp oil

Grind a smooth paste of
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
1-2 green chilies
3-4 garlic cloves
1/2" ginger piece
1 tsp fennel (badishep)seeds
2 tbl sp lemon juice
salt to taste

Method

• Cut paneer into 1X1" pieces with 3/4" in thickness.
• Slit the pieces almost till end. ( Do not cut completely)
• Make two parts of the paste.
• With one part of the paste, stuff little green paste in the slits of each piece of paneer.
• Mix besan in the second part of the green paste .Add little oil in it.
• Apply this to the paneer pieces from outside.
• Grill the pieces for 5 minutes or you can fry from both sides on the non-stick pan
• Serve hot with green salad.
• I served this with masale bhat.

Crunchy veg dip

Assorted raw fresh vegetables such as colored bell peppers, baby corns, cucumbers, radishes can be cut fresh lengthwise and used with this dip. A perfect healthy dish for the light dinner.

For the dip
1 cup hung curd
1/4 cup fresh cream
1/2 tsp pepper powder
4-5 mint leaves (torn with hands)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp roasted and crushed cumin seeds
2 tsp crushed walnuts
2 tbl sp honey
salt to taste

Blend all the ingredients together in a thick dip.
Wash and cut the vegetables lengthwise and eat fresh.

Cruchy cabbage salad

This crunchy salad tastes best if eaten fresh. It has shredded cabbage, grated carrot and soaked udid dal ( Black gram dal  which makes it rich in protein. High in fiber, this is perfect side for the dinner with some rice-n-curry.



Ingredients
Cabbage (shredded)
Carrot (grated)
Onion (sliced)
Udid dal ( soaked in water for an hour)

Seasoning
green chilies (Slit)
pepper powder
fresh lemon juice
Salt and sugar to taste

Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves

Method
Wash the vegetables and cut them accordingly.
Mix all the other ingredients well.
Garnish and eat fresh.