Khatkhate

This a mixed vegetable recipe. The vegetables used are all root vegetables. Carbohydrate rich vegetables are balanced with toor dal which adds proteins in the vegetable. Once done it is topped with coconut oil which completes the requirement of fat. This makes it a complete meal. Other ingredients like kokum, red chillies, coriander seeds are added to enhance the taste along with salt and jaggery. The peculiar taste of  तिरफळे makes the dish extraordinary and special.

Ingredients

Pumpkin
elephant yam
raw banana
potato
sweet potato
colcasia corms
french beans ( cut into half)
ridge gourd ( scrape the ridges and cut into pieces)

Take all vegetables in small quantities. ( You can adjust the quantity according to the availability) Wash and make medium size pieces.

1/4 cup toor dal ( pressure cooked)

1/4 cup freshly grated coconut
3-4 dry red chillies
2 tbl sp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

 5-6 तिरफळे (crushed)

3-4 kokum/tamarind paste
salt and jaggery to taste
2 tsp coconut oil for topping.

Method

Cook all vegetables ( except pumpkin) in a thick bottomed pan with little water. Cover the pan.
Cook on slow flame till vegetables are half cooked. Add pumpkin and cook further till done.
Add cooked dal and mix well.
Add turmeric powder.
Grind coriander seeds,coconut and red chillies and add the paste in it.

 Add crushed तिरफळे

Add salt and jaggery to taste.
Add tamarind paste/ kokum.
Cook for a boil and turn the heat off.
Top with coconut oil.
Serve as a main dish or side.

Kandamool or rushichi bhajee

 ऋषी पंचमीची भाजी
This veggie is the combination of variety of vegetables such as sweet potato,elephant yam,raw banana, colcasia corms, red pumpkin, green peas, bhendi,corn cobs, ridge gourd, colcasia leaves, lal math and stalks of lal math. The main ingredient being colcasia leaves. Sourness to the veggie comes with ambadi (hog plums), sweetness is added by banana and sweet potatoes. Green chillies are added for the spicy taste.

Ingredients
wash and soak all vegetables in salty water. Then cut them in medium size pieces without peeling the skin except raw banana and elephant yam.

1 cup cut pieces each of
 pumpkin/ लाल भोपळI

 cucumber / काकडी

snake gourd/ पडवळ

ridge gourd /शिराळ
raw banana /कच्चे केळ

अरवी /अळकुडी/अळवाच्या मुन्डल्या

elephant yam /सुरण

 sweet potato /रताळ

shravan bhendi/ seven ridged okra/lady's finger / श्रावण भेंडी

 green peas /हिरवा वाटाणा  

2-3 corn cobs preferably white ( make 3-4 pieces of each and pressure cook with little salt)
3-4 ambadi (peel the skin)
2-3 tbl sp of grated coconut

lal math with it's stalk.(wash thoroughly and cleanly. Peel the outer skin and make pieces of 2 inches)
2-3 bunches of colcasia leaves ( approx. 15-20 leaves) Wipe the leaves with damp cloth and cut the stalks and peel the skin. Wrap the stalks in the leaves and cut them not too finely.(These leaves make the gravy or pulp of the vegetable.)

For tempering
1 tbl sp of ghee
4-5 green chillies (slit)

Accompaniment
fresh curd

Heat a table spoon of ghee and add  slit green chillies.
Add all the vegetable pieces.
Add cut leafy vegetables over it.
Sprinkle some water if it is too dry.
Cover with lid with water in it. Cook on low flame.
Check in between. Once the quantity reduces and leafy vegetables change its color, add ambadi and little grated coconut.
Add salt to taste.
Mix well. Add cooked pieces of corn cobs.
Serve warm with fresh curd.

Rice porridge

This खीर or porridge is made for the नैवेद्य on the second day/ rishipanchmi on the arrival of Lord Ganesh.
Use of flavored rice like Basmati, Ambemohor enhances the taste and gives aroma to the dish.

It's very simple to prepare. Thanks to the pressure cooker!!!

1/2 cup rice-Wash and drain rice for 10-15 minutes.
Pressure cook with 1 cup water and 1 cup milk ( to make it more creamy, use full cream milk)for 10-15 minutes.
Mash the cooked rice with a ladle. Alternatively you can grind coarsely the drained rice before cooking. This is done to make the porridge more smooth.
Transfer the contents in a pan and add sugar as per your taste. Add more milk to adjust the consistency.
Cook for 5-8 minutes ( till it blends well) on low flame while stirring continuously.
Add blanched almonds,saffron and cardamom powder.
Serve cool or warm.

हरितालिका पूजा

Ganapati Bappa Moraya

गणपती बाप्पा मोरया .... happy ganesh chaturthi

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.

hello....After a long break

It was a busy schedule for the last six months. I was attending the course of 'Nursery and Gardening' arranged by the extramural department of University of Mumbai. Learned a lot and it was very informative.
Though I did my daily chores in the kitchen, I could get too little time to update the blog. I tried once or twice but could not continue.
So it's nice to be back on the blog with the freshness of this 'monsoon lily' in my window sill. The botanical name is Zephyranthes rosea (a pink variety). A white variety called Zephyranthes candida and a yellow one called Zephyranthes flava are equally attractive
As the name indicates, it flowers profusely in monsoon.
I will update this blog from time to time with the notes on gardening along with my kitchen experiments.
keep on reading....

Wheat bread open sandwich

My daughter surprised us with this for the Sunday evening snack!!!
Whole wheat bread with mixed vegetables ( cut and steamed flavored in olive oil with finely chopped garlic, pepper powder,oregano, chili flakes and salt) topped with mozzarella cheese. She used french beans, tomatoes,baby corns, capsicums and spring onions. Served with tomato ketchup.

Lemon rice

I had cooked excess rice in the morning which turned into tangy lemon rice for the evening meal with a cup of tea flavored with ginger and lemon grass.


Ingredients
1 cup cooked rice
salt and sugar to taste

Tempering
2-3 tsp oil
1 tsp udid dal
1 tsp chana dal
2 tsp peanuts
1 tsp cashew nuts
2 dry red chilies
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp turmeric powder
3-4 curry leaves

Juice of 1 lemon(approx.2-3 tbl sp.)


Method

• Heat oil in a kadhai. Add the tempering ingredients one by one in sequence. At the end squeeze in the lemon juice and immediately add cooked rice and mix well.
• Add salt and sugar to taste.
• Serve hot.

Ginger lemon

Freshness of lime in a hot summer.....so coooool!!!

Ingredients
Juice of 10 lemons
1 kg sugar
6 glasses water
50 gms grated ginger
2 tbl sp black salt

Method
Soak ginger in lukewarm water for 10 minutes. Peel off the skin and finely grate the ginger.
Mix sugar and water in a thick bottom stainless steel pan.
Heat the pan on medium flame while stirring the liquid till the sugar dissolves.
Add grated ginger and salt.
Add lemon juice when the mixture boils.

Turn of the gas after 1-2 minutes. ( Do not make thick syrup or पाक )
Let it cool completely. Store in a glass bottle in refrigerator.
Add 3 parts of ice cold water to 1 part of concentrate while serving.
Garnish with mint leaf and a slice of lemon .

Capsicum-Cucumber curry

This curry can also be prepared without using capsicum. Green chili with coconut and sourness of buttermilk is a tasty combination.


Ingredients

1 small green cucumber (तवस) ( cut into big pieces)
1small  capsicum ( cut into 4 pieces)
1 cup butter milk (thick)
salt and sugar to taste


To be ground
2 green chilies
1/2 cup grated coconut

Tempering
1-2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
5-6 curry leaves

Method

• Heat oil in a pan. Add tempering ingredients.
• Fry capsicum for a minute or two. Add  cucumber pieces. Add 1/2 cup water.
• Add ground paste. Add salt and sugar. Bring it to boil.
• Add buttermilk.Cook for a minute and turn off the gas.
• Serve hot with rice.

Dalichi aamTi- 7 (with raddish)

Flavor of radish combined with sambhar masala gives a unique taste to this curry. A tempering of curry leaves enhances it further.


Ingredients
To be cooked in pressure cooker with 1cup water
1/2 cup toor dal
1/2 cup chopped onion
3-4 radish pieces ( approx. 2 inch pieces)
2 green chilies (slit)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder

To be mixed in a curry
1/4 tsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp sambhar powder
salt and jaggery to taste


To be ground coarsely
1/4 cup grated coconut
1 tsp tamarind pulp

Tempering
1-2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida
3-4 curry leaves



Garnishing
1/2 cup chopped coriander

Method

• Pressure cook dal with onion and radish.
• Grind  coconut and tamarind.
• Mix cooked dal  with sambhar masala, pepper powder, salt, jaggery and bring it to boil. ( add water if required)
• Add ground masala.
• Heat oil in an iron ladle. Add tempering ingredients. Dip the ladle in dal mixture.
• Garnish with chopped coriander.
• Serve with rice.

Cabbage cakes

कोबीच्या वड्या

There are many ways to cook this spicy and चटपटा dish. My MIL's sis uses soaked and ground chanadal instead of chickpea flour along with other regular ingredients. It really makes them crispy and tasty too.
If time is a constraint then there is no alternative but to use chickpea flour. Last Sunday my friend Madhuri Sawant brought it in our Nursery and Gardening class and everyone enjoyed it. She said her homemade Malwani masala was the key ingredient. She shared the recipe with me. I had a small piece of cabbage in my fridge so I tried it the very next day. Here how I did it.....

Ingredients
1 cup shredded cabbage
2-3 tsp ginger-garlic-chili  paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Malwani masala ( Madhuri has her homemade one, I used ready-made)
salt to taste
1/2-3/4 cup besan/ chickpea flour
1tbl sp rice flour
water to make a thick batter

oil for shallow frying

Method

• Wash and shred the cabbage.
• Add all masala powders and pastes.
• Add besan and rice flour.
• Mix in the water slowly and stir with a spoon to make a thick batter.
• Transfer the contents in a greased pan and pressure cook for 10-15 minutes in a pressure cooker without weight(whistle). (Put some extra water inside the cooker.)
• Let the contents cool completely before cutting the squares of desired size.
• Shallow fry on medium flame from both sides.
• Serve with tomato ketchup or green chutney.

Egg plant-Potato veggie

A vangi-batata bhajee

Ingredients

2-3 vangi (काटेरी)
2 potatoes
Cut both in pieces of identical sizes
Salt and jaggery to taste

To be roasted in a tsp of oil
2 tsp coriander seeds
3-4 peppercorns
2 dry red chilies
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

To be  ground finely
roasted masala with 2 tbl sp of freshly grated coconut

Tempering
1tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida
3-4 curry leaves


Method

• Heat oil in a kadhai and add tempering ingredients.
• Add vegetable pieces. Cover with water in the lid. Let it cook till potato is half cooked.
• Meantime roast the ingredients and grind them with coconut.
• Add the ground masala in a half cooked vegetable. Add little water if required to adjust the consistency.
• When done add jaggery and little salt if needed.
• Serve with chapati.

Porridge of puffed lotus seeds

मखान्याची खीर

Puffed lotus seeds also known as Gorgon nuts are called Makhana /मखाना in India.Here are the details....
Health Benefits of Makhana or Gorgon Nut

Makhana is used as a treatment for arthritis and rheumatic pains.
Like chrysanthemums, there are no side effects, nor drug interactions, to worry about when eating Gorgon Nut.
Makhana, has been widely used in traditional oriental medicine to cure a variety of diseases including kidney problems, chronic diarrhea, excessive leucorrhea and hypofunction of the spleen.
Gorgon Nut has been widely used in traditional oriental medicine to treat a variety of illness.
Nutrition of Makhana or Gorgon Nut
The popped seeds of Makhana or Gorgon Nut, roasted and eaten as well as used in preparation of various kind of delicious sweets and recipes. It contains 9.7% easily digestible protein, 76% carbohydrate, 12.8% moisture, 0.1% fat, 0.5% total minerals,0.9% phosphorus & 1.4%mg iron/100gm. It also contains useful medicinal properties.


Usually makhana is rarely used in a Maharashtrian kitchen as far as I know. It is used in the kitchen of northern side of India. Once I came across a packet of makhana while doing grocery and googled and got  a You Tube video from Sanjeev Kapoor

Mango dip

आम्ब्याचे सासव
Various types of mangoes are introduced in the market as the month of April begins. Different varieties taste different. Many recipes include mango as its ingredient. This is one of them....
Ingredients
2 small any juicy mangoes (like  Payri or RaiwaL)
chili powder
salt and jaggery to taste

Tempering
1 tsp oil ( coconut oil if you like)
1 tsp mustard seeds

To be ground in paste
tempering when cooled
2 tsp freshly grated coconut

Method

• Wash and soften the mangoes with fingers.
• Take of the tip and and wash off the latex (चिक )if any. Squeeze out  the mango juice in a pan.
• Mash the lumps if any, to make it smooth.
• Add red chili powder, salt and jaggery to taste.
• Heat oil in an iron ladle and add mustard seeds. Let them splutter. Turn the gas off and cool it completely.
•  Grind it with grated coconut.
• Mix the paste with mango mixture. Mix it well.
• This is served with chapati or rice or as an accompaniment.

DaLichi aamTi-6

This is another version of DaLichi aamTi... a tasty one !!

Ingredients
1/2 cup toor dal
1 tbl sp tamarind paste
salt and jaggery to taste
1/2 tsp coriander-cumin seeds powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp grated coconut

Tempering
1 -2 tsp oil ( tastes best with coconut oil)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida
5-6 curry leaves
2 dry red chilies

Method

• Wash and cook dal in pressure cooker with double the quantity of water.
• Bring it to boil with all the ingredients.
• Heat oil in an iron ladle and add tempering ingredients.
• Pour the contents of the ladle into the curry. Turn off the gas. Cover with lid for 2 minutes.
• Serve with rice and sajook toop over it.

Onion veggie

कांद्याची भाजी

My younger daughter doesn't like to spend more time in kitchen if I ask her to something there. So she is always ready to make this veggie. You will come to know the reason once you read the 'Method ' below.

Ingredients
2 cups potatoes( wash and cut with skin like finger chips or french fries)
2 cups onions ( slice thinly)
salt to taste

Tempering
2-3 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp coriander seeds powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds powder

Method

• Heat oil in a kadhai. Add tempering ingredients. Add onions,potatoes with salt altogether. Stir well.
• Cover with water on the lid. Cook on medium flame till the potatoes are cooked. ( it takes 8-10 minutes)
• And done!!

It finishes as fast as it is done so could not capture the photo  :(

Chicken kalami kabab

YUMMY!!!!

Ingredients
6-8 chicken pieces(preferably boneless)
2 tbl sp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp vinegar
salt to taste

1 tbl sp cream
1 egg white
1 tbl sp curd (water removed completely)
1 tsp ( 2-3 cashews soaked in 1/4 cup water)kaju/magaj seed paste
1 tsp tandoori masala

Method

• Cut pieces of skewable size pieces of chicken. Wash the pieces.
• Apply salt,vinegar and ginger- garlic paste and  keep aside.
• Whisk curd,egg white,cream and cashew paste.
• Remove excess water from chicken pieces by squeezing it in palms.
• Apply tandoori masala and soak the pieces in the whisked marinade.
• Marinate for at least an hour.
• Skew the pieces on the skewer and roast on tandoor or on gas.
• Apply some oil and lemon juice while roasting.
• Serve as a starter with onion rings.

Paneer Paratha

Usually recipes, tricks n tips,trends are passed on from Mothers to Daughters or from older to younger generation. But  this time it was other way round, my daughter suggested me this recipe which was her innovation. As she has to do her grocery and  cook for herself too while doing her job, she often goes for a short-cut ( like paratha- a 2 in 1 recipe)to save her time and have ghar ka khana.. I remember she couldn't even do chapati/roti when she was in college but now she manages to do puranpoli !!! She's come a long way. I am proud of you my child!!!


Ingredients
100 gms paneer
1 tbl sp kasoori methi
2 green chilies finely chopped
2 tsp green chutney( coriander leaves, mint leaves, ginger)
salt to taste
1 tbl sp honey

Knead a dough with 1 cup wheat flour, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp oil (optional)

Method

• Defrost the frozen paneer halfway so it can be easily grated with a grater.
• Mix all the other ingredients and make lemon sized flat balls out of it.
• Knead the dough and make balls out of it each ball should be of half the size  of the paneer ball.
• Take two small balls  and roll two small puris out of it. Place a flattened paneer ball over one puri and keep another puri over it. Seal the border by pressing firmly or by folding the edges.
• Roll a paratha of medium thickness by using rice flour (for dredging) if required.
• Roast from both sides on a non-stick pan or griddle using few drops of clarified butter or ghee.
• Eat with curd or white butter.

DaLichi aamTi- 5

Toor DaL is an inevitable ingredient of Indian cuisine. DaL-Bhat (dal-Rice) is a popular combination in many parts of India. From plain वरण , गोड वरण, संबार , डाल तड़का, डाल माखनी there are so many to mention. Here's one more simple recipe of DaLichi aamTi

Ingredients
1/2 cup toor dal 
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 kokum pieces

2-3 tirphaLe (तिरफळ  )crushed

salt and jaggery to taste


To be ground coarsely
 1 tbl sp. freshly grated coconut
2 dry red chilies

Garnishing
few drops of coconut oil (optional)


Method

• Wash and cook dal in pressure cooker with double the quantity of water.
• Transfer the contents in a pan.
• Ground coconut and chili coarsely and mix it with cooked dal. Bring it to boil after adding little water in it.
• Crush some tirphale(तिरफळ ), turmeric powder and kokum. Add water to adjust the consistency and continue boiling for 2-3 minutes.
• Add salt and jaggery to taste and turn off the gas.
• Top with few drops of coconut oil if you like.
• Serve hot with rice and sajook toop.

sago fries

साबुदाण्याच्या कुरडव्या
Recently I soaked sago for khichdi but while making khichdi,  I kept aside the excess sago. I then felt why not to try sabudana kurdaee out of it. With the word kurdaee, I just went down the memory lane.

 My Mom used to this in the month of  April/May every year. She used to cook the batter and hand it over to me and  my friends. We would spread the huge plastic sheet over the chatai(चटई) on the terrace and drop the spoonful of small papad (कुरडई) over it. Once it got dried, the papads would automatically fall of the plastic sheet. As they were dried under the hot Sun, could be stored for a year and used for upwas occasionally.

Now we get all the stuff ready made.I wonder how my Mom ( working 10-5, Mon-Sat) would spare time to do पापड़ ,बटाटा कीस, चुंदा,साबुदाण्याच्या कुरडव्या and all that at home.
Many of my Mom's friends and my friends used to help each other for this summer venture. It used to be a group activity and it was really a fun.

Ingredients
1 cup soaked sago
2-3 cups of water
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt to taste

Method

• Boil the water and soaked sabudana /sago .
• Add cumin seeds.
• It should become transparent and the mixture should become semi solid ( you can check the consistency by pouring a spoonful on a plate. It should not flow of its own and can be spread with a spoon.)
• Add salt to taste and turn off the gas.
• You can either spread it on the thick plastic sheet or on a stainless steel plate.
• Keep the sheet in a sunny place.Spread the mixture with a spoon in small circles of diameter 2-3 cm.
• Let it get dried for 2-3 days ( daily 4-5 hrs of Sun)
• Once dry, store it in an airtight container. Fry in oil as and when required.( I made it fresh and my daughter liked it so much that storing was out of question!!! ....may be because deep frying is a rare activity in my kitchen)

Home-made rajgira chikki

राजगिर्याची चिक्की
Though we  get this chikki in shops, I prefer it homemade. It's simple.

Ingredients
1 cup jaggery
5 cups puffed rajgira
handful of  peants (roasted and crushed into pieces) and or roasted chana

Method

• Melt jaggery in a pan to make a thick syrup (पाक )
  Turn off the gas and mix in the rajgira, roasted peanuts. Mix well.
• Transfer the contents onto 2-3 greased stainless steel plate (थाळी ) and spread it by patting with greased wooden spatula or katori(वाटी )
• Mark in squares with  a knife when warm.
• Cut into pieces when cooled.

puffed rice snack

चटपटा भडंग

कुरमुरे /चुरमुरे  or puffed rice if stored in this way, become handy for making भेळ or sukha bhel whenever you feel like eating something spicy. By adding finely chopped onion, coriander leaves and with some raw mango, topped with tikha shev(तिखट शेव...दादरच्या पणशिकरची   )....it's yummy!!!

Ingredients
1 pkt puffed rice
roasted peanuts

roasted chana(डाळ )

Tempering
oil
mustard seeds
asafoetida
finely chopped green chilies as per taste
Curry leaves
turmeric powder
lemon juice
salt and sugar to taste

Method

• Roast the peanuts lightly.
• Clean the puffed rice if necessary for any small stone or burnt puffed rice.
• Heat oil in a big vessel. Add tempering ingredients one by one.
• Add roasted peanuts  and fry well. Add roasted dal.
• Add salt and sugar to taste.
• Turn of the gas and add puffed rice. Stir well so that all the ingredients with oil get mixed well.
• Let it cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Note
You can replace lemon juice with kokum pieces( to be added in tempering and fried well)

Mysore masala dosa

Once the Dosa batter is ready you can make varieties. Today I made Mysore sada and mysore masala dosa .
It doesn't require separate chutney as it is already spread inside. Tastes great with ghee/sajook toop.

Potato veggie or dosa  bhajee preparation is here.

Chutney
freshly grated coconut
kashmiri red chily (soaked in warm water for 10-15 min.)
red chili powder
garlic cloves
roasted chana
tamarind or lemon juice
salt to taste

Grind all to a fine paste in a grinder with very little water.

Method

• Spread a ladle of dosa batter on a hot non-stick griddle or beedacha tawa(बिडाचा तवा ) on medium flame.
• Put some ghee   from the edges of the dosa. Cover with lid for half a minute.
• Spread chutney in thin layer to cover the dosa.
• Spread bhajee over it.
• Fold  the dosa from sides.
• Serve with little ghee over it.

Pineapple-Jackfruit veggie

अनसा-फणसाची भाजी
This sweet n sour veggie is a traditional recipe predominantly made in the coastal region of Maharashtra. Konkan being the leading  producer in mangoes, jackfruits and coconuts, this dish is 'a must' once mangoes appear in the market.


Ingredients
2  small juicy mangoes ( payri or raywal )
1 cup ripe jackfruit pieces
1 cup ripe pineapple pieces
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chili powder
salt and jaggery to taste

To be ground coarsely
freshly grated coconut
4-5 peppercorns

Tempering
1-2 tsp oil ( preferably coconut which is used in the traditional recipe )
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp asafoetida


Method

• Wash and soften the mangoes. Take out the pulp and juice by peeling the skin off. Mash the lumps if any and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan. Add the tempering ingredients.
• Add pineapple and jackfruit pieces with little water.Cook with the pan covered.
• Grind the coarse paste of coconut. Mix it with the vegetable. Add mango juice with pulp.
• Add turmeric powder, chili powder. Add salt and jaggery to taste.
• Bring it to boil.

Crunchy salad

This is very tasty and healthy salad. Many variations are possible in selecting the vegetables. I used red capsicum, yellow capsicum, sweet corn and iceberg lettuce. You can add boiled potato cubes, mushrooms, tomatoes, boiled green peas. Sky is the limit!!!
For dressing I used mayonnaise, curd, mint leaves,oregano, pepper powder, salt and sugar .

DaLichi aamTi- 4

This is another variety of DaLichi aamti...without jaggery.




Ingredients
1/2 cup toor daL
1/4 cup chopped tomato
2-3 sprigs of coriander leaves(chopped)
2 tsp freshly grated coconut
salt to taste


Tempering
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 garlic cloves(crushed with skin)
3-4 curry leaves
2 green chilies(chopped)


Method

• Wash and cook toor dal with double the quantity of water in a pressure cooker.
• Transfer the contents into a pan and add a cup of water and bring it to boil on low-medium flame.
• Add chopped tomato, chopped coriander leaves, grated coconut and salt to taste.
• Heat oil in an iron ladle/paLi, add tempering ingredients one by one. Make the garlic cloves light brown and mix the contents in the curry/aamti. Cover  with lid.
• Serve hot with rice.

Raw mango juice

कैरीचे पन्हे

I pressure cooked two medium size raw mangoes without water in a pressure cooker. When cooled, transferred the pulp in a mixer with organic jaggery (according to the sourness of the raw mango), salt to taste and a cardamom. You can also add saffron. The color turns different if you use sugar or yellow jaggery.
Add ice cold water to dilute and serve chilled with AambaDaL.

AambaDaL

आंबाडाळ- The month of Chaitra (The first month of marathi new year) starts and this dish is savored in almost every Maharashtrian's home. The auspicious beginning of gudhipadava brings in a lot of changes in the  atmosphere; the major one being arrival of raw mango. It is the best solution to beat the heat. A lot of dishes prepared this season include Methamba, Panhe, udadamethi and my favorite Ambadal

Ingredients
1 cup chanadal/Bengal gram/yellow split peas
2 green chilies
salt and sugar to taste
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves

1 green mango/raw mango/कैरी
2 tsp freshly grated coconut(optional)

Tempering
1 tbl sp oil
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp asafoetida

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Method

• Wash and soak chana dal in 2-1/2  cups of water for 3-4 hours.
• Wash and peel off the skin of raw mango. Grate it on a grater.
• Grind coarsely the soaked dal with green chili, salt and sugar.( do not drain the dal completely before grinding)
• Transfer the ground dal in a bowl. Mix in grated raw mango, chopped coriander leaves.
• Heal oil in an iron ladle or लोखंडी पळी and add mustard seeds. As the seeds splutter,add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Turn off the gas. Let the oil cool completely.
• Mix the cooled tempering mixture with grated dal mixture.
• Garnish with freshly grated coconut if you like.
• Serve with raw mango juice or पन्हे
  

cashew nut sweet

ओल्या काजूची गोड़ उसळ

It's a variety of Konkan. A combination of freshly grated  coconut, tender cashew nuts or ओले काजू (peel the skin) and jaggery ( as per taste). All are combined on a medium heat till all the ingredients mix well.

Finger millet vermicelli

नाचणीच्या पिठाच्या शिरवळया

This is the similar one with rice flour as नारळच्या रसातल्या  शेवया or vermicelli in  coconut milk
Here I have replaced rice flour with finger millet flour/ragi or नाचणी. It really tastes great.

I boiled 2 cups of water with 1/2 tsp of salt and a tsp of oil in it. Added 2 cups of nachni flour in it. Mixed well and covered and cooked on low flame for a minute. Transferred in a plate and kneaded it and made

muthiye or pressed the cooked flour in the fist like this








Boiled these muthiye in water till they float over it.

Pressed it through chakali saacha/press with an disc attachment of  fine hole

Extracted the coconut milk with freshly grated coconut with jaggery and cardamom powder in it.

The combination tastes awesome !!! Try it.