Appe

Appe or Appam is a South Indian dish. It also requires a special type of pan somewhat similar to idlis. But the only difference is Appes are not steamed but fried in this pan as shown below. It has small around an inch deep rounds to fill the appe batter. I got this from my recent visit to India. Its a non-stick pan, hence requires less oil. Appe needs a little of pre planning but its best part is that it doesn't require any fermentation. It can be done right away after grinding the soaked dals.
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup urad dal
2) 2 cups rice
3) 1/4 cup chana dal
4) 5-6 green chilles
5) 1 tspn cumin seeds
6) 6-7 curry leaves
7) 1 inch ginger
8) Salt to taste
9) And Oil
Method -
1) Soak the dals seperately overnight or atleast for 6-8 hours.
2) Grind all the dals seperately with very little water if required.
3) With the urad dal, also grind the green chillies, cumin seeds, curry leaves and ginger.
4) Mix all the grinded dals in a large bowl. Mix well. Add salt as per taste. Mix well. The batter should not be very thin.
5) Heat the appe patra/appe skillet and add little oil in all the rounds of the skillet.
6) Pour a spoonful of batter. Do not cover the pan. After a couple of minutes flip the appes and cook them from the other side.
7) They are ready. Serve hot with any type of chutney. I served them with tomato chutney.
They are very easy and quick. If you have guests coming in the evening, you can soak the dals in the morning and grind them when you want to make them.

A Sneak Peak Into My Kitchen

I warmly and heartily welcome you all into my kitchen. Nupur from OneHotStove is hosting this event where everyone has to reveal their own kitchens. A very fun event where there is no cooking involved inspite we get to see everyone's place from where all the delicious and yummy food is cooked and served. I am also on my way to reveal my kitchen to everybody. I have always loved OneHotStove which is my strong inspiration to start a food blog of my own. I truly love her recipes and reading them is such a pleasure.
We moved to this apartment just a couple of months back. So this is very newly organized. I like to keep my kitchen clutter free and to have an easy access to all the mostly needed utensils and appliances. It is larger than my old kitchen and I also like the black and maroon combination. The pantry is like a different room altogether with lots of space than my older kitchen. So, here it is -

As seen from the entrance of the kitchen -




On the rightmost side of the cooking stove is the refrigerator. On the right counter you can see dabbas for tea and sugar, Oil bottle and ghee container. This counter is not used. On the left side is the rack from the microwave(I have seen it in this apartment only) which i use to keep hot pots or pressure cooker right from the stove.


There is a corner shelf where i have kept the masala dabba or spice box in the middle rack with hing/asafoetida and jeera/cumin seeds. The upper rack is used for salt and chapati flour and oil used for rolling chapatis. The chapati dabba is kept at the bottom of the shelf.
Next to that is the onion-potato basket followed by the knife set. And then the food processor and toaster. This counter top is used the most for cutting, chopping, grinding as the food processor is here.

All the crockery is in the overhead cabinets. Utensils and pots in the lower cabinets.
The counter top next to the sink is kept empty.

And lastly that's the pantry -

That's my kitchen. I would love to see yours too. Come, participate in this link party!!

Chakolya/Phal Varan/Daal Dhokli

Helloooooooo everybody out there. Yes, yes...I know this space has been stagnant for quite some time now. But I have been super busy these couple of months. We visited India almost after 3.5 years. I was very excited about the trip and spent most of my time in shopping for family and friends. We had a great time at home except for the heat. It was unbearable and we had to spend our days sitting in coolers and air conditioners. The main attraction of the trip were "Mangoes", to be specific "Hapoos Amba". We had missed that so much in U.S all these years and that was a perfect season to consume them. I don't remember a single day spent without eating "Amba" or "Aamras".

Anyways, so back to this post. After returning from India I was engaged in setting up our new apartment. So, now you know, these last few months were full of packing, unpacking, moving and repacking. But now that I have settled completely I am back to the blogging world which I have missed so closely.

I am back with this one pot dish which is called Chakolya or Phal Varan in Marathi. It is also popularly known as Daal Dhokli in Gujrati. It's one of my favourites when hubby does not have to take lunch. Ofcourse, its far better than making Maggie. This dish has to be eaten hot, right from the stove. It's basically small dumplings of atta or dough cooked in dal/varan/lentil soup. To make this you would need the following -

For the dhokli
1) 1/2 cup wheat flour
2) 1/2 tspn turmeric and chilli powder each
3) salt to taste
4) Oil and Water

For the Dal
1) 1 cup cooked toovar dal
2) 1/2 tspn mustard seeds, cumind seeds each
3) a pinch of asafoetida
4) 1/2 tspn turmeric powder
5) 1 tspn red chilli powder or according to taste. (I used kolhapuri masala)
6) 3-4 curry leaves
7) 1 tspn ginger/garlic paste
8) 1 small onion chopped
9) Oil for tempering
10) Salt to taste
11) 3 cups Water

Method -
1) Knead together all the ingredients for the dough and keep it aside covered for some time.
2) During this time make the dal. Heat oil in a kadhai and do the tempering. Add the mustard seeds. Once they crackle add the cumin seeds.
3) Add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Stir and add in the curry leaves.
4) Now add onions and saute for few minutes.
5) Add ginger/garlic paste and saute for some more time.
6) Now add the cooked dal and water and mix well.
7) Add salt and red chilli powder/Kolhapuri Masala and bring it to a boil.
8) Till the dal is boiling take a fairly large ball of dough. Larger than chapati/roti ball and roll it like chapati.
9) Now with a knife cut the rolled dough ball horizontally and vertically making small square shaped pieces.
10) Add these pieces or dumpling in the boiling dal. Cover it and let it cook for sometime.
You will notice that the dumplings become larger than their original size after they are cooked.
Your daal dhokli is ready. Take out in a bowl and serve. To make it more flavourful add 1 tspn of ghee and Enjoy!!!

This dish is so heartfilling and tasty. You can make the dal as your taste. You can add any other masala to it but make sure it is on a liquidy side because the dhokli/dumplings are enlarged once they are cooked.
Now, sit back and Enjoy this steaming hot dish.

Thalipeeth Pizza

Thalipeet Pizza is a fusion dish i tried out this weekend. It's very nutritious and healthy. Thalipeeth is a type of savoury pancake popular in Western Maharashtra, India. It is a very popular Maharashtrian dish.
Its dough is prepared from a special flour called "Bhajni" which is very nutritious. Bhajni is made of different types of grains like wheat, rice, ragi, millet and also some dals like black gram, bengal gram along with spices are roasted and grinded into flour.
The Bhajni is kneaded with a tbsp of hot oil and water. Taking a golf size portion of the kneaded bhajni pat it on a hot tava. Poke few holes in it and drop in little oil through the holes. Cook it from both the sides.
In India, this bhajni is prepared at home and is also available in the market.
I made Thalipeeth Pizza. It was full of nutrients and we could eat not more than 1 pizza. The Thalipeeth was made as described above. If you do not have "Bhajni" you can add a couple of tbspn of all the flours available in your pantry like wheat flour, jowar flour, rice flour, millet or ragi flour and besan. Add some spices according to your taste and knead it and then pat it directly on a tava. I will show you how to make the pizza sabji. Here's what you gonna need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 medum onion sliced in large chunks
2) 1 medium tomato sliced in big pieces
3) 1 cup green, yellow and red bell peppers sliced lengthwise
4) 1/4 cup corn
5) 1/4 cup paneer cut in cubes
6) 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
7) 2-3 dry red chillies
8) 1 tbsp red chilli powder
9) Mozarella cheese for garnishing
10) Salt to taste and Oil
Method -
1) Heat oil in a skillet and add cumin seeds.
2) Once they splutter and red chillies.
3) Add onions and saute till they turn light pink.
4) Add tomatoes and saute for a minute.
5) Add the bell peppers, corn and paneer. Mix well and saute for a couple of minutes.
6) Add red chilli powder and salt. Mix well. Cover and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Do not over cook the veggies.
7) Now, heat oil in a tava. Take a small portion of thalipeeth bhajni and pat it to a circle on the tava. Cover and let it cook from one side.
8) Turn it over and spread the veggie mixture on the other side. Garnish it with cheese. Cover and let it cook till the cheese melts.
9) Serve hot with some ketchup.
Enjoy!!!.

Tiramisu

Tiramisu is an Italian cake. It has now become the most popular dessert all over. The only way of better describing it is like "Heaven in Your Mouth". Yes!!!!! It tastes heavenly....
I was searching for some cake recipe over the net to surprise my husband for Valentine's Day. I found this recipe on showmethecurry. Thank you Hetal and Anuja. They are doing such a wonderful job. Love them...I watched their video and it was damn so easy. Without a second thought I decided to make it for my Valentine. It was just perfect. We both enjoyed it. I have absolutely no words how it tasted. You gotta make it.
The original recipe counts for Tiramisu biscuits or Ladyfingers which acts as the base for this dessert. An alternative to this is the plain sponge cake mix. It works great. I closely followed the recipe from showmethecurry.com Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) Cake Mix
2) 3 egg yolks
3) 4 tbsp sugar divided
4) 8 oz Cream Cheese
5) 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip
6) 1 cup coffee
7) Coco powder and powdered sugar for garnishing
Method -
1) Bake the cake as per the packet instructions. Use only half packet for this recipe. Once the cake is cooled down flip it on a flat surface and using a big knife cut it into 2 thin layers.
2) Now in a large bowl take the cream cheese and add 3 tbsp sugar. Mix it well until the sugar is dissolved. Use an electric blender.
3) Take egg yolks in a seperate bowl and whisk it continuously in a double boiler(Double Boiler Method - Place the bowl containing eggs over a pot of boiling water and whisk it continuously). In a minute or so it will change its color to lemon yellow. Immediately remove it from the boiler and add it to the cheese mixture. Mix it well.
4) Add 2 tbsp coffee and mix it well.
5) Now add the cool whip and mix it nicely.
Now its time to layer the cake.
6) Take a square baking dish with a lid. Place one layer of the cake in it. Now, with a spoon spread coffee all over the cake. The cake will absorb it.
7) Spread half of the cheese mixture over it. Spread Evenly.
8) Sprinkle coco powder all over. Tea strainer works best for this.
9) Now place another layer of cake on top and repeat the method again.
10)Spread coffee, cheese mixture and coco powder over it.
11)Close the lid and chill it overnight or for 8 hours minimum.
12)While serving garnish it with powdered sugar. Again, tea strainer works the best.
You can make it in the morning and have it as a desert for dinner.
Tiramisu is ready. Dig in it. Sluuuuuuuuuuuurp!!!
Surprise your sweetheart. Be it Valentine or any other day. It needs no occassion. Enjoy!!!

Black Chana Curry

Black chana is a North Indian dish. This can be a great side dish if you make it dry or a one pot meal if you make a curry. I made curry yesterday. Tasted great, very easy and a quick one to make. Its dry version is also served in many temples as "prasad". There are many ways of making this. Here is my version. You would need -
Ingredients -
1) 1/2 cup black chana soaked overnight or 6 hours maximum
2) 1 medium onion
3) 2 tsp sesame seeds
4) 1 tsp poppy seeds (khaskhas)
5) 3-4 tbsp dry coconut
6) 1/4 tsp mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder for seasoning
7) 1 tsp red chilli powder
8) Oil and Salt to taste
9) A bunch of chopped cilantro for garnishing
Method -
1) Soak the black chana overnight and pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles.
2) Grind together the onions, seasame seeds, coconut and poppy seeds to a fine paste with very little water.
3) Heat oil in a kadhai and do the seasoning.
4) Add the grinded paste to it and saute till the oil leaves.
5) Add red chilli powder and saute for some more time. At this point add little water so that the dry powder will not burn.
6) Add in the chana and water as much consistency you need. Add salt. Mix well and let it boil for sometime.
7) Garnish it with cilantro and Serve hot.
Serve it with chapatis or rice.

Indian Style Pasta (On Demand)

I had called my friends for a small party at home some time back. Had made this pasta that day. Everybody liked this Indian style Pasta and one of my friend asked me to blog it. I had made it this weekend and I am sure you all would love it. It has the flavours of Indian spices and gives it a whole new taste. We both love this. My Father-in-law also loved it. I made this many times when he was here. Here's what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 2 cups Pasta any type (I used Barilla brand's macaroni)
2) 1 medium onion chopped in big chunks
3) 1 green and red bell pepper chopped
4) 1 cup spinach finely choped
5) 3 tbsp soya sauce (optional)
6) 3 tbsp tomato sauce
7) 1 tsp mustard seeds
8) 3-4 green chillie finely chopped
9) 2-3 cloves garlic finely chopped
10) 1 sprig of curry leaves
11)1 tbsp red chilli flakes
12)1 tbsp black pepper
13)A bunch of cilantro finely chopped
14)Salt to taste
15)Oil
16)Shredded cheese of your choice
Method -
1) Cook the Pasta "al dente" according to the cooking instructions.
2) Heat oil in a skillet and add the mustard seeds. Once they crackle add the curry leaves and garlic and saute for 30 secs.
3) Add onions and green chillies. Saute for a few seconds and immediately add the bell peppers, black pepper and red chilli flakes. Mix well.
4) Add in the sauces, spinach, cilantro and salt at this time. Saute for some more time. The veggies should not be overcooked. They tastes great when they are crunchy.
5) Add the cooked pasta and mix well.
6) Sprinkle as much cheese over it and mix it well.
Serve!!! This also tastes great when it is served cold.

Aloo Paratha

Aloo Paratha is a North Indian dish. Boiled mashed potatoes are spiced and stuffed in the dough and rolled. They can be savoured with yougurt, pickle or simple enjoy it with a small dallop of butter on hot Parathas. Here is what you gonna need -
For the dough -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup wheat flour
2) 3/4 cup water
3) 1 tbsp Oil
For the Stuffing -
Ingredients -
1) 4 medium sized potatoes
2) 4-5 green chillied slitted and chopped
3) A bunch of cilantro freshly chopped
4) 1 tbsp Amchur powder
5) 1 tsp cumin seeds
6) Salt
Method -
1) Knead the dough with all the ingredients. It should be a semi soft dough and not as soft as needed for chapatis. Cover for 15 minutes and keep aside. Divide the dough into golf sized balls. Make 8 parts.
2) Cool the boiled potatoes to room temperature. Peel and mash them. Add the green chillies, cumin seeds, cilatro, amchur powder and salt to it and mix well. Make 8 seperate parts of the mixture.
3) Take 1 part of the dough and roll it into a small round. Place 1 part of the stuffing mixture in the rolled dough and cover up all the sides making a dumpling as shown in the picture. Repeat with all the other balls and keep aside. Let them rest for 2 minutes. Do not roll immediately.
4) Roll the stuffed ball into a paratha and fry it on a hot griddle from both sides with little oil.

Serve the parathas with yougurt, any pickle of your choice, mint chutney or even tomato ketchup. Enjoy!!!

Cabbage chi Vadi

I was talking with my grandmom a few days back. She was telling me that she made cabbage vadis today. Ohhh!!! How much I miss her delicious and flavourful food. Had not eaten these vadis in years. All the spices with the chickpea flour gives a whole different taste to the cabbage. Infact adds a lot more flavour to it. I had some leftover cabbage in the refrigerator. This suddenly striked me and I decided to give it a try. They were awesome. We loved it. I was snacking on it the whole day. I bet you can't eat just one. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup cabbage shredded
2) 5-6 tbsp Besan/Chickpea flour
3) 1 tbsp cumin-coriander powder
4) 1 tsp red chilli powder
5) 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
6) 1 tsp sesame seeds
7) A bunch of freshly chopped cilantro
8) 1 tsp Oil
9) Salt to taste
10) Besan/Chickpea flour as much required
Method -
1) Mix the shredded cabbage with all the powders, besan, salt and oil with just a few spoons of water. Add the besan as much required to hold the cabbage and form a soft dough.
2) Now grease a plate or a container with oil and keep the dough over it. Steam this in the pressure cooker for 10-15 minutes just like idlis. Let the pressure cool down.
3) Remove and cut the dough into small pieces and shallow fry each piece.
You can serve it with ketchup, chutney or just eat it like that.
Enjoy!!!

Happy Makar Sankranti!!! Tilgul Ghya GoaD GoaD Bola...

Wishing you all a Happy Makar Sankranti!!!

Makar Sankranti is the most auspicious day for the Hindus and is celebrated all over the country. Every hindu religion has a different name for it. It is called as Uttarayan in Gujrat and Rajasthan, Lohri in Nothern India, Pongal in Southern India and Makar Sankranti in Maharashtra. It is the only Hindu festival that falls on the same day every year, the 14th of January.

In Maharashtra, on this day people exchange multi coloured tilguls made from til(sesame) and til laddoos made from til and jaggery. Gul polis are also made on this day. While exchanging tilguls as a token of goodwill people greet each other by saying "Tilgul Ghya goaD goaD Bola" meaning accept these tilguls and speak sweet words. The whole idea behind this is to forget the past hostilities and ill feelings and be good friends.

This is a special day especially for women when married women are invited for a get-together called "Haldi Kunku" and are given gifts. Typically women wear black sarees on this day.

I made til ladoos today. Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup jaggery
2) 3/4 cup sesame seeds
3) 3 tbsp grated dry coconut
4) 2 tbsp roasted peanuts
5) 2 tbsp ghee
Method -
1) Dry roast the sesame seeds and give a quick pulse in the mixer. Keep aside.
2) To it add the coconut powder and peanuts.
3) Take crushed jaggery in the mixer and grind it giving 3-4 pulses.
4) Add all the other ingredients in the mixer and give it a mix till it is mixed alltogether.
5) Remove and make small laddoos.

A Corn Relish - Corn Kofta Curry

You would love these koftas if you like corn. They taste quite different but we loved them. The curry can be the usual one with all the spices sauteing with the onions and tomatoes. Here is what you need -
For the Koftas -
Ingredients -
1) 2 cups corn kernels
2) 5-6 bread slices
3) 5-6 garlic cloves
4) 1 inch ginger
5) 4-5 green chillies
6) 1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
7) a handful of cilantro chopped
8) 1 tbsp lime juice
9) Salt to taste
10)Oil for deep frying
Method -
1) Boil the corn kernels and let them cool. Then mash it or just give it a quick pulse in the mixer.
2) Grind the ginger-garlic and green chillies to a fine paste and add it to the corn.
3) Dip the bread slices in water and squeeze them. Mash them and add it to the corn.
4) Heat oil in a kadhai and fry these koftas until golden brown.
Be careful while frying as the corn tends to splutter.


For the Curry -
Ingredients -
1) 1 onion finely chopped
2) 2 tomatoes finely chopped
3) 1/2 cup frozen shredded coconut
4) 1 tbsp garam masala
5) 1-1/2 tbsp red chilli powder
6) 3-4 tsp poppy seeds
7) 4-5 garlic cloves
8) 1 inch ginger
9) Oil
10)Salt to taste
11)Finely chopped cilantro for garnishing
Method -
1) Heat oil in a skillet and add asafoetida and turmeric powder.
2) Add onions and saute for sometime.
3) Grind the ginger, garlic and poppy seeds to a fine paste.
4) Add tomatoes and saute till they become mushy.
5) Now add red chilli powder, garam masala and the grinded paste and saute for a couple more minutes.
6) Add the shredded coconut and fry till the oil leaves the sides. Add little water if needed so that the masala powders do not burn.
7) Add water and salt and let it boil for few minutes.
8) Add the koftas while serving.
9) Garnish it with cilantro.


Serve hot with chapatis. I served it with chapatis and boondi raita.

Happy New Year!!!

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy and Prosperous New 2010!!!
May this New Year brings you lots of Happiness, Love, Joy...
Good Health....Great Friends....
Good Luck....& Great Things!!!
Happy Cooking & Happy Eating!!!