spinach and dal go very well together. in india we do add veggies to dal and spinach dal or palak dal is one of those recipes.

there are many ways of making palak dal. this recipe is a very simple and easy one and won’t take much of your time. also this recipe is without onion and garlic.

i have adapted this recipe from a friend who would make sumptous food. being a meditator, he would never add onion, garlic and chilies to his food. whilst once at his home, he made this dal for us. i thought the dal would be very bland…. no onions and no garlic…. but i was wrong…..

the dal was sooooo good. it had the subtle aroma of ghee tempered with cumin and a gingery taste plus creamy and soft. onions and garlic have a strong flavor and taste. i am sure this dal would also taste great with onions and garlic added to it.

there are no heavy spices like garam masala added to this dal. it goes well with basmati rice and even soft phulkas or chapatis.

our friend used to make this dal basically with 2 lentils:
1: tuvar dal/spilt pigeon peas and
2: masoor dal/pink lentil.  

i have also added some chopped green chilies and red chili powder to the dal. the chilies just enhance the flavor and taste of the dal without making it spicy or hot. for tempering you could use oil, but for better taste and flavor use ghee.

there is one more thing i would like to mention about this recipe. the final photos of this dal has been shot by me in the manual mode. i know some of you won’t know what i am talking about…. and its alright…. just enjoy the photos

i love photography and i am learning on my own to shoot in the manual mode. my previous photos were all shot in automatic or semi automatic mode. there is so much to learn in photography and i am exploring this art slowly slowly.

this is my first post with the pics shot in the manual mode. the rest of the posts that will come after this will have both automatic and well as manually shot pics. i hope you liked these pics.

so without more talks, lets start:

1: pick and rinse the dal. pressure cook the lentils with turmeric for 4-5 minutes till the lentils become soft and mushy.

2: wash the spinach leaves. chop them finely and keep aside.

3: in a pan or kadai, heat ghee and fry the cumin seeds.

4: when the cumin seeds sizzle, add the chopped ginger. fry for a minute.

5: add green chilies and fry for half a minute.

6: add the chopped spinach.

7: now add red chili powder and asafoetida. mix these with the spinach and saute the palak for 7-8 minutes stirring in between

8: its time now to mash the dal. the green you see in the dal is the spinach. i was using the same spoon for sauting the palak an mashing dal….. one spoon less for me to wash

9: when the spinach softens and becomes dry like shown in the pic below.

10: then its time to add the mashed dal.

11: mix the cooked dal with the spinach. if you want a very thick dal with chapatis, you will stop at this stage. at salt… mix well and simmer the dal for a 1-2 minutes. keep stirring continously. if you want a creamy, smooth dal then continue further.

12: add water to the dal. the quantity of water will depend on how much thick or thin you want the dal to be.

13: add salt and mix it with the dal. simmer for a 6-7 minutes.

14: serve the palak dal hot with rice or chapatis and a side vegetable dish or salad or raita.

this is one health blend mix i wanted to write from a long time and finally writing about. if you have read my post on dukkah which is an egyptian  nuts, seeds and spice blend, you know how much i love these type of blends, coz they add so much to your food in terms of nutrition.

they are also easy to prepare. you can store these in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week or more. just pop some of the blend on salads, soups, curries, dals, dips or rice… you could also add some olive oil to it and have with any type of bread.

this recipe is my friend soma’s recipe. she would make these either with sesame seeds or with both sesame and flax seed. i have shamelessly copied everything without making any changes to it, except for adding sunflower seeds.

thank you soma for making this for all of us everytime and even making me aware about healthy eating….. something which i never bothered about in my whole life.

we all know that sesame seeds, flax seed and sunflower seeds are healthy and have a lot of nutrients and minerals. i don’t want to go in to too much detail about the nutritional aspects of each seed, as then it would be a long post. i will just keep it short for all of us.

• sesame seeds – high in calcium, iron, copper, lignans, proteins and mono unsaturated fats.
• flax seed – high in omega 3 fatty acids, fibre and lignans.
• sunflower seeds – rich in vitamins especially vitamin e and b complex vitamins, calcium, iron, copper, magnesium and proteins.

when i make this blend, i usually add salt to it. thus i cannot add it to sweets or desserts. but you can also make it with sugar and then sprinkle on sweets and desserts. also you could add your choice of dry herbs or spices to it to make this more flavorful and aromatic.

lets begin:

1: roast the sesame seeds on a pan or in the oven till they become light brown and crisp.

2: roast the sunflower seeds, till they make a popping sound and lightly browned.

3: roast the flax seed also.

4:  once the seeds are cooled take all the 3 seeds in a dry grinder with some salt. its important to cool the seeds, if they remain warm or hot, then whilst grinding a lot of moisture is released.

5: grind coarsely.

6: remove from the grinder and store in an air tight container. add it to your breakfast, lunch or dinner food.

apples and me have a love hate relationship… i did not like them as a child and hated them. as always was the case, i was forced to have apple milk shake everyday… a milk shake i detested so much.

i swear, whenever i go to buy fruits, i will buy all fruits except apples. there is no place for apples in my heart and in my kitchen.

but as there are always twists and turns in a love hate relationship… so is the case here. i do have a distinct aversion for raw apples in whatever shape or size they may be…. but i have a distinct likeness for cooked apples in fried, steamed or pureed form.

apple pie, tarts, puddings, cake, apple fritters, apple kheer… all these goodies with apples are always on my top list.

with a lot of apples in the kitchen and thinking what to do with them??? make an apple pie, apple cake or something else.???

whilst browsing The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking book, i came across an apple halwa recipe…. and i was on the run with peeling, coring and dicing the apples.

the hare krishna book of vegetarian cooking has fantastic recipes. the recipes in the desserts and sweets section is simply superb, with a few recipes dedicated to desserts made with fruits.

this apple halwa is also good for kids who do not like apples like me. easy to make, apart from some heavy stirring with your hands…. but your wrist will not pain

the best part is that its not a heavy dessert as no milk, cream or evaporated milk (khoya) is added in the halwa. i have used ghee to make the halwa, but you can also make it with an odourless oil like sunflower oil.

to add some warmth to the halwa, i have added cinnamon powder and vanilla powder. and the apple halwa had the hint of cinnamon tinged with the flavor and aroma of vanilla.

the original recipe, has raisins added to the halwa. i detest sour tidbits in a sweet base. so i have not added raisins. almond slices have also been added in the original recipe. you can add any dry fruits of your choice.

seasonal fruits can be used to make this halwa. ripe pears, mangoes and other juicy fruits can be replaced with apples.

finally you could also make this healthy apple halwa on festive occasions.

so here follows a step by step version of making apple halwa:

1: heat the ghee in a kadai or saucepan and add the apples to it.

2: fry the apples for 4-5 minutes or more, stirring often till they soften. when they have become soft, add 1 tbsp water. lower the heat and cook these uncovered for 15-20 minutes.

3: the apples will start to thicken and merge. with a spoon mash the cooked apples and keep on stirring so that the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan. you could keep some small chunk sized pieces if you want.

4: now add the sugar. the recipe called for 1 and a half cup sugar, i just made it to 5 tbsp sugar…. sugar also depends upon the sweetness of the apples.

5: i also added cinnamon powder to the halwa….  apples and cinnamon are made for each other

6: continue to stir and cook the halwa till the mixture become one and starts to pull away from the bottom of the kadai.

7: i also could not resist adding vanilla powder to it.

8: increase the heat to medium and continue to cook the halwa, stirring often. when the mixture becomes thick, difficult too move and translucent, remove the pan from fire. i did not want to stir more…. no wrist pain ya…. just that i wanted a little juicy and soft halwa. you could add some sliced or chopped nuts and raisins at this point and continue to cook for 2 minutes more.

9: remove the halwa on a greased thali or plate and form into 1 inch thick layer square.

10: decorate it with some halved almonds and pistachois.

11: when cooled cut into squares or diagonal shaped halwa. serve warm or cold.

chickpeas are a favorite at home. usually with chickpeas, i end up making either punjabi chole or chana pulao. i must have made umpteen versions of punjabi chole at home. and we simply love chickpeas cooked with indian spices and masala.

food blogging gives me the advantage of not only posting the traditional and regular recipes but also trying new recipes at home and then posting them. its such a joy to try out unknown recipes, take good shots and then write about them.

one such recipe i am in love with is hummus….. so you see hummus is made with chickpeas…. mine and hopefully your favorite legume too.

if you have never had hummus or don’t know what it is… this post will tell you that and please do try making hummus at home. you are going to love it.

i remember having hummus first time as a ten year old with falafel and pita bread in mumbai and i liked it so much. i asked my mom to make it for me and she did not know how to make it. i don’t blame her as these are not indian recipes and we do not make these at home.

the taste and aroma of that particular pita bread stuffed with falafel and hummus still lingers in my memory.

after a gap of many years, the second time i had hummus was when, a dear friend maitreya made it for all of us… about 18-20 people. it was such a bland hummus… poor maitreya… i don’t blame him for that. he was making it for the first time and that too for so many people.

maitreya, if you are reading this post, than you must try this hummus recipe. its a fantastic one and you are going to love it.

when i searched online for hummus recipe, there were many i came across. i settled for this one from about.com. a few recipes, i have tried from about.com and they have also come out good.

i have made a few changes to this basic hummus recipe and that is adding garlic, red chili powder and black pepper powder.

for this hummus you need tahini. tahini is a famous middle eastern spread made from sesame seeds. if you do not have tahini, then what will you do?????

simple answer my friend…. just add powdered sesame seeds to hummus. in the indian household, generally, one may not find tahini, but one will find sesame seeds, especially in the winter season. problem solved… job done….

hummus is great as a spread on sandwiches or burgers. you could also have it as a dip with fried, roasted or steamed veggies. best is to have hummus with pita bread. even it tastes good with garlic naan or butter naan.

i usually make extra hummus and keep it in the refrigerator. stays good for 4-5 days.

before we start, i have used dried chickpeas which require soaking them for a good 8-9 hours and then cooking them without salt. i always cook soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker as its quick and does not take a long time. the chickpeas have to be really cooked well. they should be easily mashed when you press them between your fingers.

so lets get familiar with hummus through a step by step pictorial journey:

1: take the roasted sesame seeds in a blender or dry grinder and finely powder them.

2: now take the thoroughly cooked chickpeas, garlic, all your spices and salt in a blender or wet grinder. either add the powdered sesame seeds to it or vice versa. this is what i did. firstly, i powdered sesame seeds in a blender. then added chickpeas et all to the powdered sesame seeds in the same blender.

3: oh… where are the garlic in the above pic… these are at the base and you cannot see them… so here is another pic for you with the garlic taken at some other time.

4: add lemon juice and olive oil.

5: blend to a smooth paste. while blending if its difficult, then add some chickpea stock to the blender. if you love olive
oil like me, then you can add some olive oil instead of the stock. whilst the hummus was blending, i remembered i had to add one herb to it, which i had forgotten. there goes some parsley in the hummus. you can use coriander leaves/cilantro if you don’t have parsley.

6: serve the hummus with warm pita bread or with steamed or roasted veggies…. whilst serving you can also add some olive oil to the hummus… enjoy … the extra hummus can be stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

guacamole is a favorite at home and also one of mine quick breakfast or dinner solutions when i am too tired or busy to make anything else.

just making this famous mexican dip takes 5 minutes and there you go… have it with toast or any bread or make a grilled or toast sandwich from it.

all you need are ripe avocados. and the common veggies found in the kitchen like onion, garlic and tomatoes.

avocado is one fruit i love. as a kid, i remember reading about avocado the first time in a bollywood film glossy, where a famous film actress used to apply avocado face pack on her face. she used to import the avocados from outside india :-0

when i read the article, i was like… what are these avocados? and why the face pack? … now of course i know why… coz they are rich in vitamin e and vitamin e is good for the skin.

avocados are also rich in the b group vitamins and vitamin k. also high in potassium.  they are also rich in fibre. so do include avocados in your diet.

so obviously, also good for children. when making this for kids, just skip the chilies and black pepper to avoid the heat.

i used to see avocados in bangalore and goa, but did not know what to do with them. so they would never make it to my vegetable groceries.

later was introduced again to this amazing fruit when a friend made the simplest guacamole i had… and i liked it so much. from then on i have been experimenting with guacamole and finally come to this version which we love at home. much richer and better in taste than the friend’s version who introduced us to guacamole.

since i am recipe freak, i am always trying to make innovative, healthy and delicious recipes. i am still finding for ways to incorporate avocado in the normal indian food that we have.

in relation to this, i must mention that recently i came across this fab recipe where the brilliant blogger richa of http://hobbyandmore.blogspot.com has come up with interesting versions of naan. one of them being avocado naan. all of them being vegan. check out her post.

i prefer guacamole with herbs and its really good with coriander leaves. i have made guacamole with basil too, but i prefer coriander to basil. the basil one is also good. you can choose your choice of herbs to be added in the guacamole.

so for now lets begin with this easy and delicious recipe of guacamole:

cut the avocado from the center and keep on rotating the knife in a circle at the center. open up the avocados in two halves. remove the large seed. now with a spoon scoop out the avocados. if the avocados are ripe, the flesh will come out easily. please ignore my overused chopping board.

in another bowl, add all the chopped onions, chilies, coriander leaves. add the chopped avocado to this bowl.

mash lightly with the spoon. add a few drops of lemon juice and black salt and black pepper powder. mix well.

you can also add some chopped tomatoes to it whilst serving.

serve the guacamole with bread toast or have it with mexican nachos. the leftover guacamole can be kept in the fridge tightly covered with a lid or cling film. stays best for a day in the refrigerator.

the best accompaniment to sarson ka saag is makki di roti. although saag goes well with parathas too, but nothing can beat makki di roti. however, makki ki roti goes well with any saag, be it palak saag or bathua saag.

makki di roti is the punjabi term for the famous north indian maize flour bread. the bread is unleaveaned and cooked in ghee.

the rotis are made from maize flour which is different from corn flour. corn flour is corn starch and is white in color. maize flour or corn meal has a light yellow color.

in fact, makki di roti, can also be had just plain with chai. you can also add some chopped greens like methi, spinach or bathua to the maize flour and make parathas. i usually make this for breakfast in the winters.

i was looking for maize flour here, but just could not find it in any grocery store. somehow a chance visit to fabindia… and i was so thrilled to find maize flour in their outlet. without any thought, i picked up the maize flour and was looking forward to make the rotis at home.

the rotis are a bit heavy on the stomach, if you eat them too much. so we add ajwain/carom seeds to help in the digestion. also they have to be cooked properly, or else you stomach might be in a problem

the rotis are also not so easy to roll. they break so easily. so one has to be very careful while rolling and lifting the rotis. you will need some practice and patience to make them at home.

begin with making small rotis that are easier to handle and then slowly, slowly you can increase the size of the rotis. if you are experienced in making the rotis with the palms of your hands together, like how our grandmothers and great grandmothers used to do, then you can make the rotis this way too.

so lets begin:

take the maize flour, salt and carom seeds in a bowl. mix them together.

add warm water little by little and keep on kneading. don’t add too much of water. make a firm dough. if the dough falls apart and it will, add a little water. but… but… don’t make the dough sticky.

so now you have the dough ready… the cracks will be there…

make medium sized balls of the dough.

now comes the most difficult part…. rolling the rotis. you can do this directly also on the rolling board… personally its easy for me to do it in a ziplock bag. the rotis don’t break if you handle them carefully. this is what i do. keep the bag on the rolling board or on a plate or on a surface which you can move. place the dough ball in the bag. press it slightly with your hands. now with the rolling pin, slowly roll… move the rolling board and roll again. this is to ensure that all the sides of the roti are evenly rolled. make into the size of a phulka or chapati… not very thin, but a little thick like parathas.

below is a baking tray with three rotis on it… this means that these rotis will go in the oven…. this is what i did… i baked the rotis in the oven… no… don’t get me wrong… not for health reasons… but coz we did not have cooking gas… and it was a huge disaster…. so please don’t ever bake makki ki rotis in the oven… you will have to throw them all away… as one bite and your teeth and gums will all start hurting… don’t you believe me? the rotis become so hard that you have to really bite into them… and a little bit of exaggeration is ok, friends

the best way is to roast the rotis in ghee on a tava. heat some ghee.

gently remove the roti from the ziplock bag without breaking it. put it on the tava. if there is a crack on the roti, then gently pat that portion with a few drops of water.

when one side is a little browned,  flip with the help of a spatula.

when the other side gets browned, flip again and cook till the rotis are well browned and cooked from all sides. pour some ghee on the sides whilst cooking the rotis.  if the dough is kneaded very well, the roti will start puffing up also. or you can see puff coming up at some spots.

serve the makki di roti hot with saag. if you don’t mind than you can add some butter on top of the roti while serving them hot.

one punjabi delicacy combination i love in the winters is sarson da saag/mustard greens and makki di roti/unleavened maize flour  bread.

whilst our stay in delhi in the winters, we used to make both sarson da saag and makki di roti almost once a week at home. and it would be awesome, with white butter on top of both the roti and the saag.

i was not much of a lover of punjabi food. i preferred my goan and south indian food always over punjabi food. but after getting married to a punjabi man, i started to make, relish and savor punjabi cuisine.

initially, i was actually shocked to see how much of ghee goes over the parathas and then to top it up with butter and then finish of with lassi. too much for me to handle :-0

this palak saag recipe is exactly the same way i make sarson da saag. i do not get sarson in goa, so i have made the saag with spinach and radish. and spinach is very good for you and your family…

you can make the saag with any greens of your choice. a combination of spinach and fenugreek leaves/methi is also good. if you can get mustard leaves, then make the same recipe with mustard leaves, spinach and bathua leaves (also known as goosefoot/fat hen in english)

i also made makki di roti to go along with the palak saag and the recipe is posted on this link: makki di roti.

i have also made the saag in microwave as we ran out of cooking gas. in the step by step post i will write  the microwave method and in the notes section below i have mentioned the usual cooking method.

we usually make saag at home and then keep it for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. before serving, we temper the saag and then serve it with the rotis. in fact the saag always tastes better the next day.

step by step recipe for making palak saag in the microwave oven follows:

wash and chop the spinach leaves.

do the same with radish leaves. use fresh and tender radish greens. also peel the radish roots, chop them and add to the spinach.

now add chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chili with 1/2 cup water.

and microwave for 7-8 minutes on full power. after this add maize flour, red chili powder, butter and salt. note that these ingredients can also be added later on to the pureed mixture. mix well.

again microwave for 5 minutes more.

i felt the need to microwave more, so again i microwaved the greens on medium power for 5 minutes.

and yet still i felt i have to microwave more…. you will see how much liquids the greens and other veggies have released.

let the whole mixture be cooled, and then blend everything in a mixer or blender either coarsely or smoothly, without adding any water.

now microwave again for 4-5 minutes… see the difference below. the saag has thickened…

for the tempering melt the ghee in a microwave safe bowl on full power for 1 minute. add the chopped onions .

microwave for 7-8 minutes till the onions turn a light brown

add the amount of saag that you are going to serve. microwave for 2 or 3 minutes more.

top up the serving bowls of saag with some homemade white butter and serve with makki di roti and some onions and green chilies.

 notes:

• use fresh and tender greens. you don’t want the saag to be fibrous.

• for cooking the saag on fire, follow this method:
  1: add all the greens, onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chilies with salt and water in a deep pan or a pressure cooker. add around 1 cup water to the veggies.
  2: cook the whole lot in the pan for 7-10 minutes or in a pressure cooker for 3-4 minutes.
  3: once cooled blend into a smooth or coarse paste. add the saag in another pan and simmer for 7-10 minutes till it thickens a little bit.

• for the tempering, brown the onions in ghee and then add the saag to it. simmer for 3-4 minutes. for a saag serving 2-3 people, 1 medium sized onion is enough with 2 tbsp ghee for the tempering. the remaining saag you can refrigerate and use as when required.

• if you do not eat onions and garlic, you can skip the garlic and onions entirely. for the tempering, fry some ginger with the ghee and then add the saag to it.

so do try making the saag this winter and let me know

cheese biscuits – a delightful warm savory snack to be had with a hot mug of coffee or tea. one of the best baked recipes, i have made.

it was so good, we finished it in two days. it was our tea time snack and munch-in between snack.

thanks to elise of simply recipes and garret of vanilla garlic for sharing this fantastic recipe. have adapted from here.

the day i saw this recipe, i knew i had to make these. i adapted this recipe to suit the indian tastebuds by adding some ajwain/carom seeds and jeera/cumin. i used regular cheese instead of parmesan and added milk instead of buttermilk.

these biscuits have a crisp texture on the outside and are soft on the inside like bread. they are not what we indians call as biscuits, crisp outside as well as inside.

the term biscuit is used for two different products in america and the common wealth nations, including united kingdom. this is what the wikipedia has to say:

In the United States it is a small, soft, leavened bread, somewhat similar to a scone. A Southern regional variation on the term, beaten biscuit, is closer to the British form.

In Commonwealth English, it is a small and hard, often sweet, baked product that would be called either a cookie or a cracker in the United States, and either a biscuit or a cookie in Canada. Biscuits in the British Isles may be savoury (savoury biscuits are often referred to as “crackers”) or sweet, such as chocolate biscuits, ginger nuts, custard creams or the Nice biscuit.

so this cheese biscuits is the american one, crisp and soft both. the step by step photographs have been taken in the not so good lights in the kitchen at night time, hence the pics are so so

the final pic has turned out good, as taken the pics in daylight

lets start with this simple recipe of making cheese biscuits from scratch.

preheat the oven to 190 degree celsius. seive the the flour with salt and baking powder. mix in the black pepper powder, red chili powder along with the carom seeds and cumin seeds. chop the butter in small pieces. mix the butter pieces with your finger tips with the flour mixture until the whole mixture resembles breadcrumbs. if the butter melts while mixing, keep the mixture in the fridge for few minutes and then start again. i had to do this twice as the butter started to melt. add the chopped scallions, grated cheese and mix again.

add the buttermilk or milk and knead. do not over knead. roll out the dough on a floured surface. knead again once or twice. roll out the dough into a square of 8×8 inch square. cut into 2×2 inch squares . sprinkle the biscuit squares with sea salt or black salt.

arrange on a greased or lined baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes…

or till the biscuits become golden…

whilst still hot, remove the biscuits and keep to cool on a wire rack. if you keep the biscuits till they become cool in the tray, they become moist from the base due to heat evaporation. once they are cooled, store them in an air tight container. warm them for 3-4 minutes in the oven just before having them.

enjoy the cheese biscuits as a delicous tea time snack.

winters are still here for some time. and its comforting and warm to have a bowl of soup or dal in winters. one recipe i love to make whether its winters or summer or monsoons or any season, is tomato rasam.

this tomato rasam is mom’s recipe and she has always been making it this way. i simply love tomato rasam this way. i have had tomato rasam in some south indian restaurants… but did not like them.

there are many recipes for making tomato rasam. this is the most easy and simple recipe to make the tomato rasam plus a delicious one. there is no dal/lentils used in this recipe. also there is no tamarind added in the recipe and also you don’t need any rasam powder to make this rasam.

the tomato rasam can be had with rice or with medu vadas or idlis. you can also have it plain as a soup with some warm or toasted bread.

its very good for cold and also for digestion. i made the rasam when i was having heavy cold and fever for a week. and it did help me to soothen the cold in the cold season

for this rasam, we use cumin seeds and black pepper as the main spices. you can increase or decrease the proportion of pepper to adjust with your taste and level of spice.

other ingredients that are added are tender coriander stems (preferably without leaves), ginger and garlic. again the quantity of ginger and garlic can be increased or reduced.

and the rest of the ingredients are of course, red and juicy tomatoes, plus the usual indian herbs and spices.

a step by step recipe for making tomato rasam at home follows:

rinse the tomatoes in running water for 3-4 times. blanch or steam the tomatoes in a steamer, microwave oven or in a pot. drain and keep aside for them to cool.

take the cumin seed, black pepper, ginger, garlic and coriander stems (you can keep some leaves  if you want).

run through the grinder to get a coarse mixture. don’t make it fine. you can also use a pestle and mortar to make the coarse paste.

now chop the tomatoes and blend them to get a smooth puree. if you want you can get rid of the peel and seeds. i usually don’t.

in a large pan, heat oil. add mustard seeds. when they crackle, add the urad dal. when the urad dal turns light brown, add the curry leaves, asafoetida, red chilies.

fry for a minute and now add the ground coarse spice mixture and fry for a minute again.

now add the turmeric powder and fry for a minute.

finally add the tomato puree. mix well.

then add some water. if you like a little thin rasam you could add some more water. also add salt.

give the tomato rasam a boil.

and then simmer for 10-12 minutes.

finally garnish with coriander leaves.

serve hot with rice and some pappadums.

oranges and milk…. do you like this combination?… some of us won’t like the combination of a citrus fruit with milk…. its a little weird for me too…. like having lemons with milk…. guess what it does to your imagination.

yet lemons are more tart and sour than oranges. oranges are sweet and in this season in india we do get sweet oranges. so the combination is not as bad as you think or imagine.

and when oranges are in season, what to do with them… of course you can eat them directly without the hassle of making anything with them.

but  you can also make something from the oranges which you must have never had in your life. thats what i did. and inspite of being a little unsure and uncertain, i am glad i made orange kheer.

it was simply wow… and a thought.. why i did not make this earlier? and trust me no bad side effects on the stomach

i have adapted this recipe from a small veg pocket book i have. they have a kheer section in it, which strangely has uncommon kheer recipes and orange kheer is one amongst them.

i would also like to wish belated lohri and makar sankranti to all of you. how much ever i love sweets and wanna make them at home for festive occasions, i just do not get the time to do so.

i did not even post christmas and new year sweets i am hopeless…

ok…. now we begin with the orange kheer recipe. i have used 500 ml of milk for the recipe. you can double up the quantity if you want. you could use any sweet oranges for the recipe, indian as well as imported oranges.

1: peel the oranges. remove the pith. chop the oranges finely. whilst chopping the oranges, remove the seeds also.

2: heat the milk and then simmer, so that its quantity is reduced to half. also add sugar to the milk. i also added some crushed cashew nuts and cardamom.

3: when the quantity is reduced to half, cool the milk. you can also cool the milk in the refrigerator. add the chopped oranges to the milk when the milk is lukewarm or cool.

4: mix the oranges with the kheer. and lo your orange kheer is ready. but you have to wait till you savor it.

5: keep the kheer in the refrigerator and serve cold…. have it cold in the cold winters

wanted to post this recipe of baked cauliflower from the last two days but just was not able to get time. some space and time today to add this quick and easy recipe of baked cauliflower.

this is one dish that you can make when you are hungry and want something quick. it also good as a brunch or a light snack to go with any herb or cheesy dip.  it can also be served with any indian chutney and also can go well with plain curd or any raita. can also be served as a starter.

as a variation the same recipe can also be made with mix veggies like cabbage, carrots and beans and even broccoli.

this one is healthy and light. plus its a vegan recipe. also as the cauliflower is baked, it has a crunch and a bite to it. it is not soft like the way it is often made in the indian cauliflower sabzis.

to make the cooking go faster, its better to blanch or half cook the cauliflower in a microwave. i preferred to blanch the cauliflower.

so here we go…

chop the cauliflower into florets. rinse them in running water few times and then blanch them in hot water for 5-7 minutes.

in a bowl or in a baking tray drizzle some olive oil. add herbes de provence, black pepper, paprika and black salt. if  herbes de provence is not available, you can add your own choice of dry herbs.

mix the herbs and spices and salt.

add the blanched cauliflower to this mixture.

and gently toss so that the olive oil -herbs- spice mix coats the florets well.

bake for 30-35 minutes on 180 or 190 degree celsius. when you see some dark brown spots on the cauliflower florets, it means the cauliflower is done.

garnish with some chopped basil or any herb you like.

and serve with any dip you like. i served it with hummus and pesto. and the baked cauliflower was great with both of them.

wish a happy new year to everybody and i pray that this new year brings peace, wisdom and abundance in your life.

i am finally posting a favorite recipe that was lying in the drafts for a month. a recipe that should have been an earlier post of mine… many a times i made punjabi kadhi, but just could not manage myself to take step by step photos.

so better late than never… am finally posting this awesome traditional punjabi recipe. i have many recipes in the drafts, but wanted this recipe to be posted as the first recipe of this year. after a hectic and work loaded year, i hope this year is easy.

i just love kadhis, be it plain or with pakoras. at home we call it kadhi chawal, coz the kadhi is had with plain rice or jeera rice. mom in law makes fantabulous curry and one can just keep licking their fingers. its sooooo good. this recipe is again from mom in law’s fab collection.

coming to punjabi recipes, there are a few much loved vegetarian recipes, that i must post like sarson da saag and makke ki roti, missi roti, aloo mutter, mutter paneer, aloo tikki and so many… out of all these i am just not able to post sarson da saag and makke ki roti… why??? simply because i can no way get the fresh mustard greens and maize flour in coastal goa…

the punjabi kadhi is different from the gujarat kadhi… the punjabi kadhi is thicker and creamier and the gujarati kadhi is a little thinner. the ingredients used to make the kadhi in both the versions is more or less the same.

anyways, now for the recipe of punjabi kadhi… a few suggestions and tips:

• use sour curd. if the curd is not sour, then the kadhi will not be sour, but still tastes good. to make the curd sour, you could add amchur powder whilst cooking the kadhi.
• use mustard oil if possible to fry the onion pakoras and for tempering. mustard oil leds a pungent sharp taste and flavor to the curry.
• you could also bake the pakoras instead of frying them.
• don’t skip on curry leaves, as you will know that something is missing from the kadhi.
• use good quality gram flour/besan
• the onion pakoras can be prepared before hand and kept aside.
• use a large bottomed pot for cooking the kadhi. the curd mixture froths whilst cooking and can spill if you use a small pot.
• to make softer pakoras, add  2 or 3 tbsp more water than mentioned in the recipe below. in this case, add the pakoras to the kadhi, just before serving.
• some folks do not like the mushy and soft pakoras in the kadhi. in this case the pakoras can be a little hard. add little or no water to the batter. the onion liquids does the job of moistening the batter.
• in this recipe i have not made the pakoras soft. just added enough water to make the batter smooth but not liquidy. in this scenario, you could well add the pakoras just after the kadhi is ready. the pakoras won’t break when the kadhi is served later.

this is again one of my those posts, where there are maximum pics. since i am presenting a step by step recipe detail for the punjabi kadhi, i will first start with the onion pakoras and then with the making of the kadhi.

so lets begin with preparing the onion pakoras:

take the gram flour/besan in a bowl and add ajwain/carom seeds, red chili powder, garam masala powder and salt.

add sliced onions to the bowl and pour a little water. we don’t want to add too much water as the onions will release water later.

mix the  onions, besan et all very well and keep aside for some 20-30 minutes. if you look at the below pic, the batter looks a little dry.

not to worry, as after 20-30 minutes, the onions would have released enough water to make the batter smooth and liquidy. if the batter still feels dry, then you add some water to it. check the salt and spices and add more if required.

now you can shallow fry or deep fry the pakoras. drop spoonfuls of the pakora batter in a moderately hot oil.

you see i am shallow frying the pakoras. the taste remains the same whether you shallow fry or deep fry.

fry the pakoras till they crisp and browned.

keep the pakoras aside. don’t have a pic of this one as i forgot to take it.

now we begin making the curd/yogurt kadhi:

in a big bowl or pan, take the curd. whip it well to make it smooth and add the spice powders – turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder and salt.

mix the spice powders with the curd.

now add the gram flour/besan to our spiced curd.

pour water and mix the contents well.

make sure there are no lumps. can you see the flour lump in the pic below. that means i have to dissolve the lumps well.

use a wooden spoon or spatula to dissolve the lumps into the curd. you can use a blender to make this mixture, but make sure you don’t over do it. you will get butter instead of a smooth blended curd  and i have done that. nooooo… not butter… i mean i have blended the whole mixture well. the photo below is the proof.

now in a large deep pot, heat mustard oil or ghee or any vegetable oil. add cumin seeds and let them sizzle. then add chopped garlic, ginger, green chili and methi seeds.

also add curry leaves and dry red chili. fry till the raw smell of the garlic – ginger disappears.

now pour our curd and besan mixture.

indian chai/tea is a common beverage for us. we start our day with a blend of ginger-mint tea or ginger-cardamom tea. sometimes to make the chai more spiced, i do add cinnamon, cloves and fennel seeds. i love herbal teas and the indian masala chai is an all time loved beverage.

if you make the masala tea powder, then you don’t have to add any spices to the tea while making it, unless you want a strong hint and taste of a particular spice. its best to make your own chai masala… you can add the ingredients you want. also the chai masala or for that matter any masala you make at home is much more fragrant and strong than the ready made masala powders.

we got a good measure of dry lemon grass at the market recently. i love lemon grass tea. knowing the health benefits of lemongrass, i decided to add it to the masala chai powder.

i will share with you both the basic tea masala and the this lemon grass version which i made. there is no perfect masala chai recipe. in india the masala chai varies from home to home. also the spices and herbs you add can be your favorites or you can add it for a particular health benefit…. eg lemon grass helps in detoxification or rose petals are a natural coolant… depending on your health conditions and what benefit you want to derive, you can add the desired herbs or spices.

the spices added to the masala chai have a lot of health benefits and the masala chai is one ayurvedic drink you can have during the day.

i did not have dry tulsi/holy basil and dry rose petals. if you can manage to get these, then do add do the masala chai powder. also if you can get lemon grass, then nothing like it.

you will also need dry ginger/saunth or dry ginger powder. this is easily available in india, but not sure about other countries. the rest of the spices are easily available everywhere.

so here we begin….

cut the lemon grass with the kitchen scissor to small or medium sized pieces.

below you can see all the spices you will need… are you sure, its all the spices or one important spice is missing?

dry ginger is very hard. so you do need a strong dry grinder or a coffee grinder to grind the dry ginger. grind the dry ginger first. or else use dry ginger powder, if you don’t want to take the trouble of grinding it.

so whats missing from the spices…. can you guess it? … its an important spice essentially used in chai masala and it is……….  nutmeg. grate the nutmeg directly into the powdered ginger… ain’t i stupid? why i am grating the nutmeg?

why don’t i add it to the ginger powder and grind it. if the strong and hard dry ginger can be ground, than the not so strong nutmeg can also be ground.

these two, that is the dry ginger and nutmeg should be ground first. later add the other spices including the lemon grass to the already ground nutmeg and ginger.

grind all of them to a powder. a little coarsness will do. you don’t have to get a very fine powder. when you open the lid, you will get such a strong fragrance of the indian tea spice blend… enjoy it…

store the dry chai masala powder in an airtight container.

while making the indian chai, add around 1/4 tsp of the chai spice mix blend to black tea with milk for 2 cups of tea.

have a healthy start to your days…

i know many folks who love dhansak. first time i had dhansak in my home science days and i must say that i loved it. dhansak is a traditional parsi recipe usually served with brown rice. it is a medley of lentils, vegetables, spices and meat.

being a vegetarian i cannot include meat, so have just made it with lentils, veggies and the spices. i know very very little about parsi food. i have been even to parsi weddings, but never had any of the parsi delicacies coz all of them were non vegetarian.

recently i got a request to post some parsi vegetarian recipes and this is the first one in this series. besides dhansak, the other parsi recipes that i am familiar with are brown rice, patrani ni machchi (fish cooked in banana leaves ) lagan nu custard (wedding custard). see… i already told you i know very very little.

i referred to five sources for the dhansak recipe, three cookbooks and two cyclostyled recipe sheets. one of mine and the other given to me by a friend. i settled down for the recipe sheet given by the friend as it did not ask me for a readymade dhansak masala… plus it was a totally vegetarian dhansak recipe. i have adapted the recipe by not adding clove powder and instead using extra cloves while making the dhansak masala paste.

and the result was too good… a comforting , warm, spicy and nutritious dhansak. the actual recipe involves adding veggies like aubergines/brinjal and pumpkin. i did not have both, so i added an extra of bottle gourd/lauki. with the remaining of the lauki, i made lauki halwa.

also instead of adding five different lentils, i added 3 lentils. you could also just add one type of lentil, namely arhar dal/pigeon pea lentils or masoor dal/pink lentils. another important ingredient in dhansak is fenugreek leaves/methi. you could either use fresh or dry fenugreek leaves. i did not have fresh fenugreek leaves , so i added kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves.

this is a step by step recipe for making dhansak.

in a pressure cooker, take all your veggies, lentils and fenugreek. add water and pressure cook for 5-6 minutes. i also added a few scallions.

below you see all the ingredients for the dhansak masala paste.

take all of these in a grinder and with some water grind to a smooth paste. the freshness and aroma of this masala paste is wonderful.

now that the veggies and lentils are cooked.

through a strainer or seive pass the lentils and veggies and mash with the back of a spoon while doing so.

there should be lumps at all. if using a fine strainer like the one i have, then the mashed veggies won’t be able to pass through it. so mash the veggies with a wooden spoon and then add it to the strained mixture.

i went for a smooth mixture, but it you want you can keep some texture by not mashing the veggies smoothly.

now heat ghee. add onions and saute them. i used the same pressure cooker. did not want additional pans for washing

add the dhansak masala paste and saute till the raw aroma goes away.

add the strained and mashed lentils and veggie mixture to the masala paste. simmer for some minutes.

finally add the tamarind juice and simmer for some more minutes. if you look very carefully you will see the dark tamarind juice color almost off the center on the right hand side.

serve the dhansak, hot with brown rice.

or you can also have it like a soup with some warm toasted bread or garlic bread. its tastes awesome both with rice and bread.

honestly speaking, i had never had one of the famous paratha from punjab – gobi paratha ever before marriage. my mom never made it nor i had it at the restaurants.

after marriage, i was treated to a different varieties of parathas for breakfast. this is how and where i learnt how to make gobi/cauliflower paratha.

i knew how to make aloo paratha but not gobi paratha. i always thought it was very difficult and honestly never ever tried to make it. it was after i saw my mom-in-law making the gobi paratha, did i realise it is very easy and not at all difficult.

i learnt and saw my mom in law making so many parathas … i did not know that such parathas existed: like chini/sugar paratha , chana dal paratha, lauki/bottle gourd paratha, onion paratha, ajwain/carom seeds paratha, bathua paratha… not only i learnt these recipes but also the well known mooli/radish paratha, methi/fenugreek leaves paratha and paneer/cottage cheese paratha, .

the recipe of this gobi paratha is the way we make it home. it is an easy recipe, as no previous cooking of the cauliflower is involved.

the cauliflower is grated finely. i usually use a hand grater for this purpose and avoid grating in the food processor which i have. for some reason, the food processor gratings are larger than the hand grated ones. the caulifower has to be grated finely or otherwise when making the parathas, they break.

parathas are usually made for breakfast, but i made this for dinner, as was too tired to cook an elaborate meal. the parathas are served with white butter or curd or mango pickle.

so we begin with the step by step recipe of making gobi paratha:

grate the caulifower finely. add some finely chopped green chilies to it.

uniformly mix the green chilies with the cauliflower. keep aside.

knead the dough. once the dough is ready, take a medium sized ball from the dough. dust it with some flour on the rolling board.

roll it to a size of about 3 inches in diameter. top it with a few tablespoons of the grated cauliflower mix.

sprinkle some salt, red chili powder and garam masala powder on the grated cauliflower.

bring all the edges together of the dough and press them at the center.

flatten the pressed edges with your fingers and dust some flour on the stuffed dough.  i find this stuffing technique easier than the one where you roll two small puris/rounds and then stuff the cauliflower stuffing between the puris/rounds. but you choose what is easier for you. i have mentioned both the techniques of stuffing the paratha on my aloo paratha recipe post. newbies can have a look.

with a rolling pin, roll very lightly till you get the paratha to a size of a chapati or roti. it doesn’t have to be a perfect circle. look at mine… its not a perfect one… you have to be a little quick enough to roll out the paratha as we have added salt to the cauliflower and thus it release some water. so before the liquids are released from the cauliflower, your paratha should be on the pan… trust me its easy and not at all difficult. once you get the knack of it, you will be a master in making any parathas

place the paratha on a hot griddle, tava or flat pan.

when the bottom side is 1/4 th cooked, flip the paratha and apply ghee on the cooked side. remember you won’t have neat and clean fingers when making parathas or chapatis… see my fingers… all coated with flour…

be liberal with the ghee. a paratha is not complete without ghee and especially good amounts of ghee… so don’t be a miser…

flip the second time. so now the side, where ghee is applied goes at the bottom.

apply ghee on the second side.

flip for the third time and then a fourth time making sure that the paratha is cooked evenly and well browned.

serve the gobi paratha with curd, pickles or white butter.

i know of three veggies which we at home often make halwa of – carrots, beetroot and bottle gourd. but to tell you a fact, i have also learnt how to make potato halwa during my home science days.

anyways coming back to bottle gourd, also known as lauki in hindi and dudhi in marathi. this sweet indian dessert is known as lauki halwa or dudhi halwa.

whenever i see bottle gourd in the fridge, i get lost as to what i should make from it. either i make this healthy spanish style bottle gourd soup or end up making a simple bottle gourd stir fry with chana dal or just add it with other veggies in a sambar or avial.

i had a big long bottle gourd in the fridge. after pondering over what to make from it, i decided to make the famous parsi recipe of dhansak. i used 1/4th of the bottle gourd to make dhansak and kept the remaining 3/4th in the fridge.

the next day, when i saw the bottle gourd, i was again lost. but this time i had decided that i do not want to make a main course or a side dish with bottle gourd, so i opted to make a dessert.

initially, i have just cooked the grated bottle gourd in milk and not added any khoya (evaporated milk) to it. in the process of cooking the bottle gourd with milk, the milk begins to evaporate and reduce, so you don’t need to add evaporated milk.

this method of making halwa with the milk takes a little longer, but is handy when you do not have ready khoya at home. i make both carrot halwa and beetroot halwa at home with this method.

since winters have arrived, what better way to warm yourself up by having a nice bowl of hot and healthy lauki halwa.

this chaat style aloo toast sandwich is not only an easy and yummy sandwich recipe but also a special recipe. for the first time i am posting a recipe which is contributed by a regular reader of this blog.

i thank swetha tipparaju for sharing this easy & tasty recipe with all of us. she has also shared some more recipes which i will post in the coming days.

this toast sandwich recipe is different from the one i make as there is no green chutney applied to the breads. plus the potatoes are just mashed and not tempered with any spices.

we all at home liked the chaat style toast sandwich, when i made it. it sort of just melted in the mouth. great to have as a quick breakfast, snack or brunch with masala chai… thanks to swetha…..

whenever i have toast sandwiches with mashed potatoes or veggies, i am transported back to my good old mumbai college days, where i would have toast sandwiches many times in a week.

the sandwich wala near my college would make nice sandwiches and the dosa wala would make yummy dosas. so sandwiches or dosa were everyday lunch.

the recipe is very easy to make. if you have leftover mashed potatoes, then its easy, as no boiling and mashing the potatoes is needed… you can make these sandwiches with either brown bread or white bread. we always use brown bread, as obviously its a healthier option than white bread.

its easy and quick to make this one – so lets begin…

add coriander leaves, chaat masala, chili powder, cumin powder and salt to the mashed potatoes. mix these spice powders and coriander leaves with the mashed potatoes.

apply some butter on the bread slices. not necessary, but you can always have some butter on the bread ….. the next comes the cheese – either top up the bread with grated cheese or apply cheese spread or soft cheese. be generous …. i applied cheese spread on the both the bread slices. now top up one slice of bread with the mashed potato mixture.

you can also add some veggie slices on top of the mashed potatoes, like tomato or onion or beetroot or capsicum slices or a combo of the veggies. a suggestion would also be to use sprouted mung beans as a topping.

if using grated cheese, then add a little cheese on the mashed potatoes. cover with the buttered bread and toast or grill the sandwich. once the sandwich is browned from both the sides, remove from the sandwich maker. apply some butter on the hot sandwiches. have these tasty chaat style toast sandwiches with tomato ketchup or coriander mint chutney. serve the toast sandwiches hot.

being a punjabi food lover, chole bhature is one meal i can have anytime of the day. in my office, whenever they would have chole bhature in the menu, I would inevitably have it everytime. after eating the chole with bhature, i would be so full and satisfied, that i would not eat anything else for hours.

i made the chole and bhature, especially for mom, dad and sis since they like it so much. at my place south indian and goan food rules, so its very rare that my mother makes north indian food… and both my parents and sis just love punjabi food.

its also the hubby’s favorite dish. so i do make a chole recipe like punjabi chole and pindi chana often. if not bhaturas then i make pooris at home to go with the chole.

having bhatura or poori with chole can be very heavy for some of us. so in that case, you can have the chole with rice or bread.

this recipe is an oily deep fried indian bread… so avoid it, if you are cutting down on the calories… i do not know if they can be baked in the oven as i have never done it and i also do not know if they puff up in the oven like the fried ones.

its not very healthy as they are fried, but still keeping the health factor in mind, i have used wheat flour in combination with refined flour (maida) for the recipe. like my earlier recipe of bhatura, this too has a higher ratio of wheat flour to maida –  in the proportion of 2:1 respectively.

but there is a difference in this recipe of bhatura. its made with mashed potatoes. once when talking about bhatura recipe with dear mom-in-law, she told me, she makes bhaturas with mashed potatoes.

i had never heard that bhaturas can also be made with mashed potatoes. at least i had never made it with mashed potatoes and i did not know that such a recipe for making bhatura existed. it was interesting to know this and i had asked her for the recipe.

to help the dough to leaven, i have used baking powder and yogurt. you can also use baking soda. this recipe is helpful when at times we do want to make bhatura but don’t have access to yeast.

another plus point of these potato bhaturas are that they do not become chewy once they become cold. they still remain soft and fluffy.

i kept the dough to leaven for around 1 hour and 45 minutes and the bhaturas came out well. they puffed up and were also soft. if you have enough time on your hands then you can keep the dough for a longer time.

keep in mind that these potato bhaturas puff up like puris. you have to fry them evenly so that they puff. if the oil is cold than they won’t puff up and would soak up a lot of oil. the oil has to be hot but not very hot. if the oil gets too hot, the outside gets browned quickly leaving the inside under cooked.

so lets start with the step by step recipe of making aloo bhatura:

seive both the flours with the baking powder. bring together the mashed potato, yogurt, salt and the sifted flour in a bowl.

start to knead the flour. avoid adding water and only add if required as the dough becomes sticky due to the mashed potatoes. the liquids from the curd also help in kneading the dough. so water is not required. add ghee or oil too while kneading the dough.

knead to a soft and smooth dough. cover with a damp cloth and keep aside for around 2 hours.

after two hours lightly knead the leavened dough again. the dough will feel very light in your hands.

make medium sized balls of the dough. dust a rolling board with flour…

and roll each ball into a round disc of about 4 inches in diameter, not too thick nor thin.

deep fry each bhatura in moderately hot oil…

and they puff up while frying like puris….

fry the bhaturas till they become golden brown and well puffed up. keep them on kitchen paper tissues so that the extra oil gets absorbed.

serve them hot with punjabi chole or pindi chole accompanied with onions slices and lemon wedges.

here is another favorite recipe made from mix vegetables, coconut and curd – avial. avial is a traditional recipe of kerala and an essential dish of sadya.

i recently came to know that avial was invented by Bhima – one of the five pandavas, during their exile. this is what the wikipedia mentions:

It is supposed to have been invented by Bhima (one of the Pandava brothers) during their exile. According to the legend, when Ballav (Bhima’s name during this time) assumed his duties as the cook in the kitchen of Virata, did not know how to cook. One of the first things he did was to chop up many different vegetables, boil them together and top the dish with grated coconut. 

There is a mythology variation. Bheema is said to have prepared Avial, when there were unexpected guests for King Virata and he needed to serve meals for them. There was no sufficient vegetables to cook any single recipe for side dish, so Bheema used what ever available vegetables to make a new dish, which came to know as Avial.

avial was a regular dish at my home. my mother would make it once a week with sambar. mom made this when we were for a short visit at my parent’s place. i took the pics and was pretty pleased with the pictures.

in avial, we use mix vegetables, but of a different kind. not the usual cauliflower, carrot, peas, beans combo. the vegetables that are generally added to avial are:

• drumsticks/phalli
• carrots
• cucumber – the oblong cucumber used in sambar
• raw plaintain
• pumpkin/kaddu
• ash gourd/petha
• green beans – any variety can be used. we have used chawli (snake beans) and gavar (cluster beans)
• tendli/tindora (gherkins)
• suran/elephant yam
• arvi/colocasia
• snake gourd

you can always go for your own combinations of veggies depending on the availability and your choice.

a step by step recipe for making the south indian kerala classic dish at home follows:

firstly chop all the vegetables and keep aside.

keep the chopped colocasia in salted water for 20 minutes to reduce the sliminess.

keep the chopped plantain in salted water for some minutes to avoid discoloration before cooking.

begin to cook the vegetables with curry leaves in water with some salt added to it. as we have used curry leaves at this step, we have not added curry leaves in the tempering. but you if you don’t add curry leaves now, you must fry them when making the tempering.

whilst the veggies are cooking we prepare the ground coconut masala – ingredients as shown in pic below.

grind the coconut, cumin and green chilies with little water to a coarse paste.

by now the veggies will be half cooked,

so its time to add some bright yellow color to the avial – turmeric powder…

stir the turmeric with the rest of the half cooked veggies.

after a minute, add the ground coconut paste.

stir the paste with the rest of the cooked veggies.

let the mixture simmer for some more minutes till the veggies are completely cooked. take beaten curd in a bowl or cup.

when all the veggies are cooked, add the curd.

stir and simmer the avial for a minute and close the fire.

now comes the seasoning. in hot coconut oil, add the seasoning ingredients and when they sizzle.

pour the hot seasoning on the avial.

as soon as you finish pouring the seasoning, cover the pan with a lid for 3-5 minutes so that the aromas and flavors are absorbed. later, stir well the seasoning with the rest of the avial.

serve the hot avial with rice and some papads.

enjoy

i remember having papdi chaat for the first time in a punjabi restaurant in mumbai (can’t remember the restaurant’s name). it was one of the best papdi chaat i had in mumbai.

when living in delhi, i had papdi chaats often, but cannot forget the one i had in mumbai. being a true blue mumbaite, i have always made sev puri, pani puri, dahi sev batata puri at home, but never papdi chaat.

not that papdi chaat is difficult or time consuming. just that it did not come to me that i can make it at home. so for the first time i made papdi chaat at home and it was exactly like the one i had in the mumbai restaurant. i made it the same day when i made sev puri.

in papdi chaat, besides the papdis (fried flour crispies), a melt in the mouth fusion of boiled chickpeas, potatoes and pakoris (fried black gram fritters) and curd (yogurt) is added.

i have used all the ingredients except the urad dal pakoris. the pakoris are made exactly like the bhallas made for dahi bhallas. i did not have time to make the urad dal pakoris. if you decide to make the pakoris, then after deep frying them, let them cool and then soak them in water for some time. squeeze the water from the pakoris and add it to the papdi chaat before you top it with the curd and the chutneys.

as a substitute for pakoris, you can also use boondi. soak the boondis in water and then squeeze the water from the boondis. add these to the papdi chaat.

to make the papdi chaat healthy and nutritious, instead of fried papdis, use baked papdis. also some moong sprouts and pomegranate can also be added to the chaat.

so lets begin with the step by step recipe of making papdi chaat at home:

arrange the papdis in a shallow bowl or plate.

top the papdis with boiled potatoes and boiled chickpeas.

add generous amount of curd.

add the green mint coriander chutney as much as you want.

top up with the sweet tamarind dates chutney.

sprinkle all the spice powder and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. at this point i wished i had fresh pomegranate to add to the papdi chaat. it would have added a lovely color and texture to the recipe.

just to add some color and crispiness, i added sev… but its optional

serve the papdi chaat immediately as soon as you are done preparing it.

adding onions or tomatoes is optional. onions add a nice crunch to the papdi chaat. i made one serving with onions and  tomatoes and this was also too good.

finally a chocolate recipe…. after a long long time. this time an eggless chocolate mousse recipe. i like chocolate mousse… but without eggs.

the thought of raw eggs in a regular mousse, just makes me not to have it. i do prefer eggs in cakes, but no eggs for me in a mousse. i have developed a strong dislike for raw eggs in any food product.

the reason being this that i have had umpteen times raw eggs dissolved in milk – my regular breakfast diet as a kid. and gosh… i hated it so much, especially with the raw smell of eggs. till today there are some things, i just cannot eat, coz i was forcefully fed it or forcefully made to have it. god forbid everybody these kind of eating nightmares.

keeping this unpleasant experience behind, i move on to a pleasant and lovely experience of making and savoring an eggless chocolate mousse…

this recipe is made in an easy 20 minutes… the refrigeration takes 4 hours…. and… your chocolate mousse…. oops… eggless chocolate mousse is ready. this recipe is completely vegetarian as it also does not use any gelatine.

i have adapted this recipe from tarla dalal’s the chocolate cookbook. i have only made two recipes till now from this book. the first recipe – that of chocolate walnut fudge was a disaster… the taste was very good, but the fudge was all flat… still we ate it all…

i was not sure how the second recipe – that of this eggless chocolate mousse would turn out. i was keeping my fingers crossed and was hoping that the mousse should also not fall flat… and… it did not. the mousse was well set and was a lovely dessert to have after a nice lunch and dinner.

the original mousse recipe is made from dark chocolate. i made it from milk chocolate. also, in the original recipe, rum is used. we don’t add any liquor to the food we make. hence, i have added apple juice instead of rum. you can use any fruit juice, but remember the mousse will have the flavor and taste of that fruit juice. if you do not want rum or fruit juice, then add water instead.

this is a step by step recipe for making easy eggless chocolate mousse at home… so lets begin…

chop the chocolate and begin to melt it in a double boiler.

whilst the chocolate begins to melt, add the golden syrup and rum…

and begin to melt gently over heat to a smooth sauce…

whip the cream…

till you get soft peaks…

fold the cream into the chocolate mixture or fold the chocolate mixture into the cream.

mix uniformly

pour this mixture into stemmed glasses or small bowls. tap the bowls or glasses gently to make an even surface.

refrigerate for 4 hours or till the mousse is set. decorate the mousse with chocolate shavings, tutty frutties, cherries, choco chips, fruit slices, wafers, nuts, dark chocolate sauce.. whatever you like and fancy.

serve the eggless chocolate mousse made with love to your loved ones.

sev puri… a street snack of mumbai…. and my all time favorite mumbai street food and chaat recipe. in fact, coming to think of it… all the chaat recipes are my all time favorites

sev puri is easy to make and just a few things have to be made before hand like the puris and chutneys. if you do not have time to make the puris and chutneys before hand, then buy them readymade.

i brought ready made puris and sev. both the spicy green mint coriander chutney and the sweet tamarind dates chutney, i made at home. in addition to these two chutneys, a third chutney is also added. this third chutney is made by grinding dry red chilies with salt and water. some garlic may also be added. i did not make the red chilies chutney and was happy to use red chili powder instead.

we wanted to have some chaat at home. so i had made both papdi chaat and sev puri on the same day. in mumbai this snack is known as sev puri and in delhi it is called as papdi chaat. they are similar but not the same.

in sev puri, curd is not added, unless one wants it. in papdi chaat along with curd, boiled white chickpeas and urad dal/black gram pakoris/fritters are added. sev, onion and tomatoes are also not added to the papdi chaat. the rest of the ingredients are same.

the following pics show the assembling and i am just going to let the pics speak for themselves. they assembling is easy to understand from the pics. the recipe details are mentioned at the bottom of the post.

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after all the assembling is done, serve the sev puri immediately.

and don’t be surprised if your family, friends or guests ask for a second and third helping…

whilst, having a short visit to my parent’s house, i saw the radish pods in the farmer’s market… i remember buying them many times in the delhi farmers’ markets.

i love them for their radishy taste, flavor and aroma. so without even a second thought, i bought the radish pods. i wanted my mom, dad and sis to have this delicacy. they have never had this anytime before and it was the first time they had the sabzi. and they liked it very much.

i had radish pods sabzi for the first time, at my in-laws and it was dear mom-in-law who had made it. this is again her recipe and this is the only way i know of a sabzi with radish pods, besides adding it in chutneys.

the radish pods are easily available in the vegetable markets of north india, but not at all available in the south indian vegetable markets.

the radish pods are called as moongre in punjabi. this sabzi is made with potatoes, hence it is typically called as aloo moongre ki sabzi.

all you guys who have never tried the radish pods….. try it. it is different… that much i can tell you. but i cannot say if you will like it or not. though they look like beans, they are not at all like beans. they are like radish… pungent and sharp…

so lets begin with the step by step recipe of punjabi aloo moongre ki sabzi.

chop the pods in 2 or 3 inch pieces and rinse them in running water 3-4 times. keep aside.

heat mustard oil in a pan and add the diced potatoes.

saute the potatoes till they change color and get atleast 1/4th cooked. now add the chopped radish pods and saute for a couple of minutes more.

add turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt to the veggies.

mix these spice powders with the veggies.

cover and cook the veggies for 10-15 minutes. keep on checking the veggies in between. finally add the garam masala powder and dry mango powder.

mix these with the rest of the veggies. serve the aloo moongre ki sabzi with rotis or parathas and a bowl of curd/yogurt.

i love all south indian snacks and back with mom and dad, i am having a good time to have my favorite south indian breakfast tiffin snacks like dosa, rava dosa, appams and of course my top favorite medu vada.

medu vada is one snack i loved as a kid and still do. i especially like it dunked in hot sambar with coconut chutney by the side. whenever we would go to any udipi or kerala restaurants in mumbai, i would order either vada sambar or masala dosa. these two were always on my top list of south indian snacks.

mom made this for brunch and i happily captured the pics. we had it with the kerala sambar and coconut chutney.

i did not take the pics of her soaking the lentils and grinding it, as i was sleeping when she did all that. i am not an early morning person and sometimes can get up very very late in the day. so all i have is the cooking pics and not the preparation pics. i have taken plain simple shots of the recipe without any styling or anything.

this snack is one of the easiest snack to make. if you have left over sambar and don’t know what to do… just make the medu vadas… dip into the sambar and enjoy…

if there is no sambar, then too you can have the medu vadas with coconut chutney or even with mint coriander chutney or tomato sauce. you could use any dip of your choice… may be even a tahini dip or any cheesy dip will be great…

soak the urad dal /skinned black gram for 4 -5 hours. you could also soak these overnight. drain and grind the urad dal to a smooth batter. avoid adding any water while grinding. in the food processor its easy to grind without water, but in the grinder jar, you will have to add some water. then add very little water. the batter should be thick and not liquidy.

add these herbs and spices to the batter – cumin seeds, black peppercorns, chopped curry leaves, chopped coriander leaves, chopped coconut pieces, chopped green chili, chopped ginger and chopped onions. you can add all of these or a combination of these spices and herbs. add salt to the batter. mix the batter with the herbs, spices and salt. you do not have to ferment the batter. you can use it right away. my mom kept it simple and just added cumin seeds.

mom added some semolina to half of the batter and that you can easily make out from the final medu vada pics.

heat oil for deep frying the vadas. take a bowl of water. apply some water from the bowl on both your hands. take some batter in your right hand from the bowl. give it a round shape. with your thumb make a hole in the center.

slid the vada into the hot oil. make vadas like these and slid into the oil. you can also use banana leaf to make the vadas. but not everyone has access to a banana leaf or banana plant growing in their garden. so you can use the above technique. if you really do not care about appearance of the donut shape of the medu vada, then just drop spoonfuls of the batter directly in the oil.

fry the medu vadas till crisp and golden browned.

remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen tissues.

fry all the medu vadas.

serve them hot or warm with sambar and coconut chutney. enjoy.

the mathris, i had made on karwa chauth, as i was not able to find these in the shops close to our place. we usually break the karwa chauth fast with mathris. so i made these indian spiced salty crackers laced with ajwain and peppercorns at home.

mathris are popular in north india. they are also known as nimkis. i prefer to have mathris with tea, but in north india people have mathris with mango pickle.

mathris are also made during diwali. this mathri recipe post was meant for the occasion of both karwa chauth as well as diwali. but i am very very late in posting this recipe. both karwa chauth and diwali are over and so all of us would have finished making the festive sweets and snacks… a late me

usually mathris are fried, but you can also bake them. personally i prefer them fried instead of baked. mathris are made with refined wheat flour/maida. i wanted a healthier mathris, so i have added wheat flour to the recipe. the result was a healthy, crisp and flavorful mathri.

so lets begin with step by step recipe of making mathris at home. recipe courtesy is my mom in law.

seive the maida, wheat flour, baking soda and salt.

keep it aside.

take ajwain and add it to the sieved flours.

mix the ajwain with the flours.

add ghee and some water.

start to knead…

add some more water and knead into a smooth but firm dough. it should not be soft.

now there are two ways of making the mathris:
1: circular or
2: triangular
first, lets see how to make circular mathris. take a tennis ball size dough in your hand and roll into a thick disc/chapati. prick with a fork on this rolled dough.

with a biscuit cutter, cut round discs. you can also take small balls from the dough and roll them each into round discs. the round discs can be in the range of 3 to 4 inches in diameter.

on the round disc embedd some peppercorns. remove the extra dough from the sides and make another ball of it.

now the second way of making triangular mathris. take a small ball of the dough and roll into a puri.

fold the rolled puri sideways.

and then again fold it in a triangular shape.

embedd the peppercorns. you could also insert a clove in the dough. i do not like the strong taste of cloves, so i have not added these to the recipe. you don’t have to prick with the fork, but just for fun i used the fork.

make the mathris in any shape of your choice. keep all of them aside.

heat oil in a pan and start to fry the mathris till they are crisp and golden brown. (please see notes below for the hotness of the oil)

also fry the triangular ones. the triangular mathris have to be fried really evenly to ensure that the inner folds inside the triangles are cooked as well.

drain on tissues and when the mathris are cooled, store them in an airtight jar.

enjoy the mathris with pickles or just with evening chai/tea.

notes:

• the mathris should never be fried in a very hot oil. they become browned quickly from the outside but do not get cooked from inside.
• the oil should me kept on a low to medium flame. hence, the mathris take a longer time to fry than other fried indian snacks or pooris.
• you could also warm the ghee or oil and add to dough for that extra flakiness.
• the dough should be firm and not soft.
• avoid adding too much water while making the dough.
• the triangular mathris can be laced with cloves instead of peppercorns. just pinch a clove in the triangular mathri.
• you could also add coarsely powdered black peppercorns instead of full ones.