Saturday, March 22, 2008

Gujrathi Kadhi

This is a very nice alternative to the usual dal with rice. Kadhi is also a traditional North Indian dish. It is usually spicy and also contains vegetable balls or pakoras in it. Gujrathi Kadhi tends to be sweeter and also it does not contain pakoras. Here goes my recipe for the Kadhi -

Ingredients -
1 cup plain yogurt
1 and half cups water
2 and half tsp besan or chickpea flour
1 inch piece of ginger minced
5-6 curry leaves
3 dried red chillies
1/2 tsp mustard and cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
salt and sugar as per taste
Oil

Method -
Mix the yougurt, water and besan together in a bowl and set it aside. Now heat oil in a saucepan,and temper it with mustard and cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida and dry red chillies. Once the tempering is sizzling, add the yogurt mixture. Add sugar and salt and bring it to a boil. Simmer it for 10-15 minutes stirring almost constantly. Garnish it with cilantro.

In Maharashtrian cuisine, the best way to serve this Kadhi is with Khichdi. Kadhi-Khichdi is a perfect combination for a monsoon night dinner. A papad and a favourite pickle at the side adds to a satisfying meal. This one's is everybody's favourite comfort food.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

HAPPY HOLI!!!

HAPPY HOLI TO ALL!!!
Holi-Festival Of Colours is a popular Hindu spring festival observed in India.
On the first day, bonfires are lit at night to signify burning the demoness Holika, Hiranyakashipu's sister.

On the second day, known as Dhulendi, people spend the day throwing coloured powder and water on each other. The spring season during which the weather changes, is believed to cause viral fever and cold. Thus, the playful throwing of the coloured powders has a medical significance. The colours are traditionally made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi and other medicinal herbs. A special drink called Thandai is prepared on this day.

Rangapanchami occurs after a few days (fifth day of the full moon) making the end of the festivities involving colours.

This festival unites the separated beings, rejoins the broken hearts, removes the internal & external differences and clears the mutual misunderstandings. This festival, being a pleasant occasion of renewed love & friendship, is celebrated with fun gaiety and reverence. These transient colours of Holi are symbolic of everlasting RANG!!

So, guys what are you waiting for.....Get started for this fun filled holi.

Wish You All A Happy Holi. May this festival of colours bring many more colours and happiness in your lives!!!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Tadka Dal

Hmmmmm...Another type of dal. Very simple and quick. Perfect for bachelors.

Ingredients -
1 cup toovar dal
1 large onion chopped finely
1 large tomato chopped finely
3-4 dry red chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric powder, red chilli powder, mustard seeds, cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida
1 tbsp Garam Masala.
Ghee
a bunch of chopped fresh cilantro

Method -
1) Heat a Pressure Cooker and add a generous amount of ghee. Melt the ghee.
2) Add the tadka ingredients - asafoetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chillies.
3) Add onions and saute them nicely.
4) Then add tomatoes and all the powders and cook for a while.
5) Now add the washed toovar dal with 3-4 cups of water.
6) Pressure cook the dal and cool the cooker.
7) Add the chopped cilantro for garnishing.

Serve this dal with rice along with curd or any kind of your favourite pickle.
This leads to a very satisfying meal.

Aloo-Kanda Bhaji

A perfect snack for a cold and rainy evening. A hot cup of tea with these bhajis and sitting besides the window watching the rains outside...Everybody loves this..Isn't it!!!
We enjoyed the same today...:)

Ingredients -
3-4 tbsp gram flour or besan
2 onions diced vertically, little thick than as usual.
1 potato cut in round shapes
1 tsp red chilli powder
salt as per taste
Water
Oil for frying

Method -
1) Mix the gram flour, water, red chilli powder and salt together. It should be little thicker than the dosa batter consistency.
2) Heat oil in a skillet/kadhai.
3) Dip the onions and potatoes in the mixture such that it gets nicely coated.
4) Deep fry in the oil. Drain it on a tissue paper.

Enjoy this with Tomato ketchup or any kind of your favourite chutney..

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Palak Paneer

I had some leftover Paneer in the fridge and was thinking of using it with something. Thought of trying out this dish. This was an attempt which came out to be successful.

Ingredients -

2 cups spinach washed and chopped
1 cup paneer cubes
2 large tomatoes
1 small onion chopped finely
1/2 cup cashews
3-4 green chillies
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
Oil
Salt as per taste

Method -

1) Dry roast the cashews and make a fine powder of them.
2) Heat oil in a wide skillet and add the green chillies and spinach. Saute till the spinach is cooked. Wait for a few minutes and let it cool. Blend them with a pinch of salt to a smooth paste.
3) Also blend the tomatoes seperately to a smooth puree.
4) Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry the paneer till it gets brown from both the sides.

Now with the curry -

5) Add oil in a wide skillet and fry the onions till ther are tanslucent.
6) Add ginger-garlic paste and cumin-coriander powder. Mix well and saute for a few minutes.
7) Now add the cashews, blended spinach and the tomato puree alongwith salt as per your taste. Mix and add water if needed. Do not dilute the curry too much. It should not spread when served in the plate. Cook it covered on low flame for around 7-10 minutes.
8) Just before turning off the heat add the paneer cubes. Mix them with the spinach. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes and turn off the heat.
9) Serve hot with chapatis.


Saturday, March 15, 2008

Tomato Kadhi

This recipe is very much close to Tomato soup or Tomato saar which is a very popular dish in Maharastrian cuisine. The taste of gram flour(besan) with a perfect blend of spices adds a very nice flavour to this curry.

Ingredients -

4 large tomatoes
3-4 curry leaves
salt as per taste
2-3 green chillies
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2 tbsp gram flour
2 tbsp jaggery grated
a bunch of chopped cilantro for garnishing

Method -

1) Boil the tomatoes and blend them into a smooth puree. Drain the puree and keep aside.
2) Heat oil in a skillet and add all the ingredients except chilli powder and jaggery. Cook for 2 minutes.
3) Add the pureed tomatoes with 2 glasses of water.
4) Add chilli powder, jaggery and salt and bring it to a boil.
5) Remove from heat and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot.

Raw Mango-Onion Takku


This is a delicious preparation tending to be sweet rather than hot. Its origins are from Gujrat and now popular all over.



Ingredients -

1 Raw Mango(medium size)
1 medium sized onion chopped finely
salt as per taste
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp jaggery grated.
1 tbsp Oil

Method -

1) Peel and grate the raw mango. Add onion and jaggery to it.
2) Heat oil in a small kadai. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida and the powders.
3) Pour this tadka on the mango-onion mixture. Add salt and mix well.
4) Serve it with hot chapatis or rotis.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Mutter Paneer




Paneer is a kind of soft cheese used in Indian Cuisine. It is similar to Mozarella or Ricotta cheese. Most varieties of Paneer are simply pressed into a cube and then sliced and chopped. Unlike most cheeses in the world Paneer is completely vegetarian and is a primary source of protein. Paneer is prepared by adding lemon juice in hot milk so that the curd is seperated from the whey. The curds are then drained in a muslin cloth and the excess water is drained. What remains is the PANEER.

Ingredients -

1) 1 cup frozen/fresh peas
2) 1/2 cup paneer cubes
3) 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4) 1 bay leaf
5) a pinch of asafoetida
6) 1/2 tsp turmeric
7) 1/2 tsp chilli powder
8) 2 tsp cumin-coriander powder
9) 2 large tomatoes
10)1/2 inch ginger
11)2-3 green chillies
12)Oil

Method -

1) Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry the paneer till it gets brown from both the sides.(I prefer this method instead of deep frying the paneer)
2) Blend tomatoes, ginger and green chillies in a blender.
3) Heat oil in a wide skillet and add cumin seeds and bay leaf. Once the seeds crackle add the blended mixture.
4) Add asafoetida, salt and all the powders. Stir well. Cover and cook till the tomato mixture becomes half.
5) Now add the peas and paneer cubes with 1 cup water. Mix well and add salt and chilli powder if required as per your taste.
Cook for sometime and Mutter Paneer is ready.
6) Serve hot with Parathas.



One of my friend told me to add 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with water forming a paste at the last stage so that the gravy becomes thick as we get in restaurants and does not remain watery. I didnt have corn starch so did not use it.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Beet Raita


I love this pink coloured raita. This ones very easy.



I made this simply by grating the boiled-peeled beets. Adding curd, green chillies salt and sugar. Garnishing it with cilantro. Thats it!! So, easy...

Masoor Dal

I like to include lentils in my meals than the usual yellow toovar dal.


Ingredients -
1) 1 cup masoor dal
2) 1 medium onion chopped finely
3) 1 medium tomato chopped finely
4) 2-3 green chillies
5) 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
6) 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
7) 1/2 tsp turmeric
8) a pinch of asafoetida
9) 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
10) 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
11) 1/2 tsp cumin-coriander powder
12) 1/2 tsp garam masala
13) Oil
14) a bunch of cilantro finely chopped

Method -


1) Pressure cook the masoor dal. Make 3 whistles
2) Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. Once they crackle add cumin seeds, asafoetida and turmeric.
3) Add onions and saute till it turns light brown.
4) Add tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste, cumin-coriander powder and saute little more.
5) Add the cooked masoor dal and some water as per the consistency needed (i had made a little thick).
6) Add the chilli powder, garam masala and salt and let it boil for a few minutes.
7) Garnish with finely chopped cilantro and serve hot with chapatis or rice.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Palak Paratha

I had not tasted Palak Paratha until marriage. My mother-in-law introduced these green coloured parathas to me. She used to serve these hot parathas and i immediately fell in love with them. I liked them so much that now i have them on my dinner table on a weekly basis. You will need -

Ingredients -

1) 1 cup spinach
2) 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3) 2 large garlic cloves
4) 2 cups whole wheat flour
5) 3-4 green chillies
6) salt as per taste
7) Oil

Method -


1) Grind the spinach, green chillies, cumin seeds and garlic together to a fine paste.
2) Take this mixture in a mixing bowl. Add flour, salt and 1 tsp oil and knead this mixture to a soft dough with as much water as needed.
3) Make small equal sized balls of the dough and roll each ball gently to a falt round paratha applying flour whenever necessary.
4) Place the paratha on a heated griddle and add few drops of oil on each side.
5) Repeat till all the balls are used up.
6) Serve these parathas hot with your choice of pickle or any other spicy gravy.

Note : The picture has not come out very attractive(I am very poor at clicking good photos). But believe me these tastes good. Try them out!!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Pasta

Before starting with the recipe I would like to tell something about my grandmother. I have stayed with her for almost 7 years before marriage and I owe a lot to her. She is a gem of a person. She is a wondeful human being and lives life to the fullest. She loves food, all types of food and loves eating out. She loves chocalates and ice creams though her dentures does not allow her to eat. Pizza and garlic bread being her favourite, she loves Pasta too with lots of cheese on it. She also makes lovely Pasta. We used to have this as our Sunday morning breakfast quite a lot of times. I made this over the weekend for our Saturday brunch. So, this one's for you, my dear ajji....muaaaaaahhhhh :)




Ingredients -

1) Any kind of Pasta. I used Macaroni
2) 1 cup veggies of your choice. I used green peas, corn, red peppers and carrots.
3) 1 medium onion chopped finely.
4) 2 large tomatoes chopped finely.
5) 1/2 tsp chilli powder.
6) Grated cheese
7) Tomato ketchep
8) Salt
9) Oil

Method -

1) Cook pasta as per the instructions. Drain and keep aside.
2) Heat oil in a wok/kadai and add onions. Saute till light brown.
3) Then add the tomatos and saute.
3) Now add all the veggies. Add chilli powder and tomato ketchep. Mix well. Cover the lid and cook the veggies till tender.
4) Add the pasta. Mix it well with the veggies and add salt as per taste.
5) While serving add the grated cheese and Enjoy!!!