Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey

Chat Pata Aloo - Baby Potatoes Roasted and Coated in Indian Spices

2012-05-28T13:01:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Bring out these spicy and tangy potatoes any time on the table and watch how the whole family devour them! That was exactly what happened in my family. For the past few days we are having glorious weather here in Britain! So, naturally, don't feel like staying in the kitchen for long. I am now finding ways how to stay away but at the same time give family lovely treats too..These babies don't need too much of your attention nor many ingredients. It's so simple and easy to make yet they are so tasty and are little gems on your table..

You will need:-

500 g baby potatoes
1 tsp red chilli powder
pinch of red chilli flakes
Salt to taste
1 tsp dry mango powder
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
fresh coriander leaves chopped
2-3 tbsp Olive oil

Method:-
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6-7.
Boil potatoes in a large pan with little salt till half cooked.
Drain the water and place potatoes on a baking sheet and pour oil on top.
Coat every potato with oil.
Let it roast till light golden colour, it will take around 20-25 minutes.
Transfer roasted potatoes in another bowl , add all the spices, toss gently.
Garnish with finely chopped coriander and serve hot or at room temperature.

Note:- You can peel the skin , even deep fry too.

Mango and Garlic Chutney - Dad's style !

2012-05-25T21:01:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,
"Dad, you should've told about this chutney recipe to Jagruti ages ago!!" ...these lines were narrated by my hubby to my lovely and adorable Pappa few days back on the phone! One after another we all told my dad the same lines...2-3 weeks ago while I was chatting with my dad, I was going through my fixed lines, dad how's your health? have you eaten ? what did you eat? what are you gonna eat for dinner? etc etc..and in that time I told him that I've bought a few raw mangoes and I will prepare few dishes out of it..Then he said try this chutney with garlic, and while I was talking to him ..he was giving me instructions and I prepared this fabulous and lip smacking chutney in a jiffy...

You will need :-

1 big raw mango peeled and cubed
2-3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp fresh coriander
1 tsp fresh mint
salt to taste
1 small green chilli
1 tsp coconut ( fresh or dry )
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of hing

Method:-
Place all the ingredients in to the blender except oil, mustard seeds and hing.
Add little water and grind till you get coarse paste.
Transfer chutney into another bowl.
Heat oil in small pan, add mustard seeds, when splutter add hing.
Add oil with mustard seeds to chutney.
Mix well and serve.

Linking this recipe to Nayna's event Cooking with Love-Dad , brainchild of Sara's Corner.
also sending it to Very Good Recipes event Family Challenge.

Super Food Butternut Squash and Spinach Curry

2012-05-23T11:01:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Finally, we can bask in sunshine ! much needed and waited sunny days are here, looks like not for so long though. But whatever we are having right now, make most of it. So today without writing much further I am going straight today's recipe..Super food curry, so healthy and tasty. Extremely enjoyed by all of us !

You will need:-

450 g Butternut Squash peeled and diced
150 g fresh spinach leaves
200 g canned tomatoes chopped
1/2 tsp tomato puree
1 medium onion finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ginger minced
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin and coriander seeds
salt to taste

Method:-
In a heavy bottom pan heat oil, fry the onion till softened.
Add garlic and cumin seeds fry till cumin changes into brown colour.
Add ginger and turmeric powder , red chilli powder, garam masala and ground cumin and coriander powder.
Fry the masala few seconds, add chopped tomatoes and tomato puree, season with salt.
Now add butternut squash and 150 ml water. Mix well.
Cover with lid and simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add little water if necessary.
Stir in the spinach shortly before serving the curry. Adjust the seasoning and serve with Roti, Naan or Paratha.

Enjoy !!

Palak with Creamy Mix Vegetables - Fresh Spinach with Mix Vegetables

2012-05-21T00:00:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,
This time of the year we should get lots and lots of fresh produce like spinach and many greens at a reasonable cost, unfortunately this year we are not getting that. Of course spinach and greens are there, but they are very costly :(. It could be several reasons, the weather is playing a big part and also high fuel prices !!

However, high prices won't stop me buying good quality ingredients, if you need it, you need it! What else can you do? Anyway I have to stop whining about it! Let's see the recipe.
This time instead of paneer I used mixed vegetables, but the kept the flavour of Palak Paneer. !

You will need:-

3 small bunches of palak ( can use baby spinach )
1 cup mixed vegetables like carrots, peas, sweetcorn and green beans boiled ( I used frozen )
1 big onion finely chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
3-4 green chillies finely chopped
30 ml fresh single cream
salt to taste
1/2 tsp crushed cardamom seeds
1 big tomato finely chopped
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin and coriander
1/2 tsp kitchen king masala
1/2 tsp kasoori methi ( dry fenugreek leaves )
pinch of hing ( asafoetida )
2-3 tbsp oil

Method:-
Wash palak leaves. Place in a big bowl with 3-4 tbsp water and cook in the microwave for 3-4 minutes. I prefer this method , don't need to drain the water.

Now place spinach in grinder and ground into coarse paste. it will take few seconds. Leave it a side.

Heat oil on a medium heat in a heavy bottom pan and add cumin seeds, when splutter add hing and finely chopped onion , saute till they turn golden brown, it will take about 3-4 minutes.

Add kasoori methi, green chillies and ginger garlic paste, fry all these about 1-2 minutes.

Now add red chilli powder, garam masala, kitchen king masala and salt. Turn the heat on low.

Fry about half a minute and add chopped tomatoes.

Cook the tomatoes in masala till little soften.

Add mixed vegetables and cook about 3-4 minutes on a low heat.

Add spinach and mix well. Cook further about 2-3 minutes. Add single cream and cardamom seeds, mix well let it simmer about one more minute. Turn off the heat.

Ready to serve with roti, naan or paratha.

End of an Era - Eggless Condensed milk Cupcakes

2012-05-19T10:04:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Yesterday marked the end of an era for us. Our daughter has finally finished her final school year.

I clearly remember her first day at nursery as I walked her to school and I held onto her fingers tightly. Now, 15 years years on she has has also left her secondary school.

To say a thank you to her teachers, she wanted to get them all a small gift. We sat thinking of what we could get and then I decided, why not make cupcakes and decorate them at home. It would be nice to make something at home than just buying a box of chocolates from the store. She got a chance to add a personal touch to her gifts to make it more memorable.

Me and my daughter had a lot of fun decorating the cakes, (mostly because we ate most of the icing)!! :)

The response to the cakes were great... Hayley told me after school that all of her school friends and
teachers were very impressed and couldn't believe that they had been made at home. One of her teachers even took a photo of the cakes!

You will need:- makes 24 cupcakes

2 cup plain flour
6 tbsp sugar
200ml sweet condensed milk
10-12 tbsp buttermilk
10 tbsp sunflower oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
1 and half tsp baking powder
few drops of vanilla essence

Method:-

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4-5 or 175-180 degree C. Line 12 cupcake trays with paper cups.
In a one bowl sift the dry ingredients together.
In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients together and whisk 3-4 minutes.
Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and combine, Mix well.
Now fill cup cakes with batter up the half way of paper cups.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer ( toothpick ) inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.
Let the cup cakes cool completely.
Decorate your cakes with any frosting or fondant.
I decorated mine with with fondant and edible pearls.

Submitting to Jagruti's event Celebrate - Diamond Jubilee and Nayna's event Let's Bake Cupcakes and Muffins. Also to Geetha's Kitchen Chronicles - Baked Delights brainchild of
Kalyani .

Be padi Rotli- Paper Thin Double Layer Indian flat Bread

2012-05-17T00:00:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Roti or Rotli to make for us Indian women is everyday chores :-) , according to my and a few friend's opinions. It becomes a chore when you have to keep making those paper thin rotli's what we gujju make ! BTW I do not make those paper thin rotlis..my family prefers little thicker one, also I am little lazy too, ;-D

But hey guys I tell you if you really want to enjoy mango ras , try with this be padi paper thin rotlis, smeared with ghee ! It's mind blowing , easily you can gobble up 3-4 more. I guarantee you after having ras and rotli it's a definitely a good one hour free sleep :) . Let's see the recipe !

You will need:-

Chapatti dough
Rice flour for dusting
Ghee
2-3 tbsp oil

Method:-
Make two small balls of the dough.

Make two small chapattis size of a saucer.

Apply little oil on the roti and sprinkle little rice flour on top.
Top with another roti.

Roll with a rolling pin till you get thinner roti. ( dust some rice flour in between , so roti doesn't stuck on the rolling board.)

Roast on a heated tawa or griddle on both side. Roti will fluff up.

Remove from the tawa, flip it open.

Apply good amount of ghee on both rotlis.

Enjoy hot with chilled Ras. You can see my Home made mango recipe.

You're Invited - Ashwini Deshpande ~ peethrperun Kandyachya bhaji che parathe--Spring Onion I Chickpea Flour Bhaji/Subji Paratha/FlatBread

2012-05-16T00:00:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,
You're Invited !
The reason behind this concept was to meet so many of you wonderful food bloggers and display YOUR cooking expertise.

So how it will work ?

I will invite you food bloggers and publish Guest Posts by you on JCO. It would be fab if you invite your fellow bloggers to also write posts for JCO so please feel free to do so and don't be shy!

Did you guys like our last guest post by Sutupa Ghosh ? If yes, then I am optimistic you will like this guest post too. Today our second guest is Ash from Bollywood !!!! yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh..we have Ash here.........you guys are thinking Ash and Cooking aur woh bhi Bollywood ki ? Ho hi Nahi Sakta ...!
I know you all are absolutely right...was just JOKING :))
Let me introduce to you our second guest Ashwini Deshpande of Indulge-ashscorner .
With love I call her Ash !!!! She is from the State of Maharashtra, India, currently based in the USA with her lovely family. Her blog is really an indulgent corner for us guys...her blog has so many mouthwatering and delightful recipes, from Authentic Indian to Western and fusion delights, from Maharashtrian favourites to cake mania..I don't have enough words to describe her cooking excellency here..you must visit her page and see it your self...

Over to Ash from Bloggywood :)

Jags Ben as I call her is a dear blogger who I came to know recently through FB. I was drawn to her blog due to its screen presence, awesome food and easy to make gujju recipes. I was super thrilled when she asked me to do a a guest post for her. Being new in this game, I was lost, as to what I would do that she has not yet done ..so I came across this. As this is A Moms day Week, I am posting a recipe that My dear mom always made. She mad this Subji a lot.. But being a MOM today, I am always in search of extra time and less efforts recipes. I turned the leftover bhaji/subji into parathas.

Peeth perun bhaji is a type of preparation that can make any Maharahstrian go weak in his knees. The peak of the ultimate comfort food, is what it is for me. This is a way of making any green leafy vegetable most common used are spring onions, or radish leaves with chickpea flour or besan. Capsicum is also used for some added variation. Peeth perun is a technique where the flour is incorporated into the vegetable after it sweats a bit.This is ready in very few minutes and take no time. So if you have less time and need to use up those radish leaves, make this today,. But there is one caveat. The amount you start with and the amount you end with will be very dicey. This is ideal when you just need to add one more side to your platter or better when you simply need to supplement the veggie of the day, make this. This is a dry preparation and goes well with dal rice and bhakri or roti or any flat bread.

I was very picky eater and choosy when it came to food. I was not very willing to try new foods, new ways of cooking and always liked food at my friends place better than what my Mom made. I am amazed at how good my boys are who do not ever say that my friends mom cooks better than you ma. I was not the case for sure. For me the grass was always greener on my friends lawn. I am sorry for the pesky kid I was Mom. Some things however I did enjoy at my home was this bhaji/subji. I try to get the taste my mom gets, but am not there yet. I use her recipe to the T but still its a miss at times. My mom always made this peeth eprun bahji using spring onions, radish leaves and capsicum to name a few, when we were traveling in trains on long journeys and as this made meals a less messy. She made wraps form pooris or phulkas and stuffed them with dry subji's most times it was this subji. Only if she knew that what she called as poli-folds was todays kathi rolls, she would have been a famous chef. The next post will be the innovation I did with this subji, But for now, lets see how to go about making this.

You will need:-For the stuffing/Subji

2 bunches spring onions, after you clean them and chop them, they should fill approx 2 cups.
We get 3-4 spring onions in one bunch.
2-3 tbsp besan/chickpea flour
Again this will depend on how much water the onions give out.

Tempering:-

2 tbsp Oil
1 tsp mustard/rai seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin/jeera
1/2 tsp carom/ajwain seeds
1tspn Turmeric
1 pinch hing/asafoetida
Salt to taste
Sugar a pinch, Optional
In a wok, heat the oil till hot, then add the mustard seeds, let them splutter then add the jeera, ajwain and let that sizzle for one second, then add the turmeric, hing and the chopped onion springs, cover and let it wilt and sweat the water out, reduce the heat to low. Add in the salt, sugar and let it sweat a bit. You will need to add a bit more salt than regular as we will be adding besan. Once the salt is incorporated and the onions are wilted well, add in the besan spoon by spoon. The quantity of the besan will depend on how much water the onions have given out. Adding spoon by spoon helps in judging how much flour would be needed. Once the mixture looks wet and the onions get covered with the flour, stir it well and cover and let cook for 5 minutes, on low heat. After 5 mins, stir once and see if the flour is cooked, if not let it cook covered for 2 minutes. The subji will stick to the pan, use more oil if needed, or use non stick pan to cook. I like the burnt scrapping so I let it stick before scrapping it into a serving bowl. The peeth perun bhaji is ready for your loved ones.
For cover;
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil
water as needed to knead into a soft dough
For cover;
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil
water as needed to knead into a soft dough
In a bowl, mix the oil and salt and water and knead into a soft pliable dough.
Make equal size balls of the dough and stuffing. Roll a small ball/poori and stuff the stuffing and close the ends, dust some flour and roll into a roti/paratha of about 5-7 inches in diameter. Heat a skillet/tawa and roast it while applying some oil/ghee/butter on both sides. Enjoy with some ketchup/yogurt/pickle or chutney of your choice.

Have a great day everyone..I hope you'll like my dish.
Love and Peace
Ashwini

Thank you Ash for this nostalgic recipe. I am definitely going to try this recipe tomorrow, can't wait, the same thoughts must be coming into our readers' mind too ! Come on guys why wait ? Just put your apron, try this recipe and let us know :)

It's an honor to have you on JCO !!

Keri No Ras Gujarati style- Homemade Mango Pulp

2012-05-14T00:00:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

I still remember those childhood vacations. Hot, sweltering summers and luscious, juicy large variety of mangoes...!!
The childhood's gone, scorching summers are gone but I am still lucky to have those mangoes even here in UK :)
In India, in most of the Gujju households, Ras and Rotli or Puri are must for lunch with daal, sabji and rice. But at my parents family it wasn't :( ..My mum never had that type of time to sit there and spend hours squeezing out all the pulp from the mango..in those days we did not have a blender and I always missed that. Even then we ate lots of mangoes, but we just cut them and ate them ourselves...

I used to watch our next door neighbour from early in the morning. She used to sit with big box of mangoes, massages them very gently and squeeze out all the pulp into big Bowl, (an art in it self ) while she keeps chatting to people who pass from there.. It was fascinating for me. Since then I always wanted to make ras for myself. Whatever the share of mangoes I have for myself, I squeeze out ras for myself...and I never ever gave up on ras..here in UK I buy good quality mangoes. Every year I will make ras at least 5-6 times, the only change is that I now use a blender to speed up the process instead of by hand. You can have ras with puri or roti's which are smeared lavishly with ghee eating this authentic combo at lunch time, and then slumbering away the afternoon.
You might find a surprise here that we add ginger powder ( soonth paowder ) in our ras, don't know exact reason behind it, but once I heard that ginger helps you to digest the Ras..but if you guys have any idea, please do let me know !!

You will need:-

6 good quality mangoes ( I use Alphonso )
2-3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dry ginger powder
2-3 tsp ghee
1/4 cup water ( optional )

Method:-
Wash and cut the mangoes in slices.
Peel the skin.
Place all the mangoes, sugar in blender.
Blend till very smooth you can see very smooth pulp.
At this stage pulp will be too thick, add little water and mix once more time.
Transfer into a big bowl and chill the ras until required.
When you are ready to serve in a small bowl for each person, add pinch of ginger powder and ghee if you like and have with hot puri's or special paper thin roti called " be padi rotli " means double layer roti's..Recipe is coming soon !

Batata Vada Gujarati style~ Deep Fried Mashed Potatoe Dumplings

2012-05-12T17:05:00.001+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello reader

One potato
Two potatoes
Three potatoes
Four!

Five potatoes
Six potatoes
Seven potatoes
More!

One potato
Two potatoes
Three potatoes
Four!

Five potatoes
Six potatoes
Seven potatoes
More!

Go to any corner of the Earth, you'll find potatoes. Any dish made out of potatoes, you'll hardly ever hear someone say no to it !!!! I am optimistic that the next dish which I am going to post..you won't say NO to either.. but you won't be leaving any on the plate for others :)

Batata Vada, as soon as I hear the name of it, not sure about you guys, but I start drooling :D
Last week we had very dull and rainy weather, so we decided to have hot and spicy Batata Vada with sweet and tangy chutney. I like my batata vada's mixture without turmeric powder and batter without any masala. Also I like my batata vada's gram flour layers to be thin..

You will need:-

500 g boiled potatoes peeled and mashed
Oil for deep frying + 1 tbsp
3-4 tbsp crushed green chillies and ginger ( adjust according to your taste )
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp cashew nuts
2 tbsp raisins
1-2 tsp caster sugar ( optional )
1 tbsp crushed whole coriander seeds, Black pepper and fennel seeds
2-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3-4 tbsp fresh finely chopped coriander
1 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of hing ( asafoetida )

Batter :-

200 g gram flour ( I used kala channa flour )
Salt to taste
Plain soda water

Method:-
Add 1 tbsp oil in a heavy bottom pan.
Add mustard seeds and hing, when splutters, add crushed chillies and ginger.
Fry for few seconds, add cashews and raisins.
As soon as raisins puff up, add mashed potato, salt, sugar and mix very well.
Turn off the heat, add lemon juice. Mix well and let it cool.
Check the seasoning, divide potato mixture into a equal size balls.
Mix salt with the gram flour, add soda water and mix very well. Batter should be medium thick.
Leave it aside for 5-6 minutes.
Meanwhile heat oil in a frying pan.
Dip potato balls into a batter, take out coated balls with the help of a small spoon and fry into hot oil till light golden brown.
Remove from the oil.
Serve hot with any type of chutney..I served mine with THIS chutney. ( waiting to give a name )
Enjoy !!

Submitting to Celebrate - Diamond Jubilee event hosted at Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey !

You're Invited - Sutupa Ghosh ! Safed Halwa- Semolina pudding

2012-05-11T00:00:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

I am delighted to start a new venture on Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey...."You're Invited" ! I had this concept on my mind for the past 6-7 months and finally it's on the floor. The reason behind this concept was to meet so many of you wonderful food bloggers and display YOUR cooking expertise.

So how it will work ?

I will invite you food bloggers and publish Guest Posts by you on JCO. It would be fab if you invite your fellow bloggers to also write posts for JCO so please feel free to do so and don't be shy!

So today it gratifies me to begin by introducing Sutapa Ghosh of Tips for healthy and delicious cooking and Sutapa's Indian Cuisine. We became very dear friends through social network, and when I asked her about guest post, without any hesitation she agreed . Her two blogs are full of mouthwatering delicacies of western, authentic Indian and specially Bengali Cuisine . Please do visit her blogs and take advantage of her yummy cooking..

So friends let's hear it from Sutupa..

I am Sutapa Ghosh from India. A passionate foodie who love to share her culinary experiences with the world so I started my healthy food blog Tips for Delicious and Healthy Cooking 4 yrs back. This site became popular not only among the American audience but also from people all over the world. Then nine months back I started my Indian food blog Sutapa's Indian Cuisine which is absolutely dedicated to explore the various taste of Indian cuisine. In this few years of blogging I met many friends who are not only great foodies but wonderful people to spent time with. Jagruti is one such dear friend and today I am feeling blessed to be part of her blog and wonderful foodie journey.

Safed Halwa
Halwa or halva is a dense sweet confection very popular in India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and surrounding countries. In India though semolina halwa is popular and mostly this is related to the North Indian cuisine but it has a very prominent South Indian version known as alvaa in Tamil is from Tirunelveli a city in the state of Tamil Nadu. Another closely related version of halwa is kesari or kesari –bath. In Maharastra halwa is called Sheera where as it is known as sujir halua in Bengali and Rava Kesari in Telugu. Today we are making the yummiest yet easy version of this awesome dessert.

Ingredients:
1 cup suji ( semolina)
¼ cup ghee ( clarified butter)
1/ 4 tsp of elaichi powder
1 cup sugar or to taste
4 cup full fat milk
½ cup dry fruits ( cashew, raisin, pistachio)
1 whole bay leaves break into halves
A very small pinch of salt
½ tsp of rose water ( optional)
few rose petals for garnish

Methods of Cooking
Boil 4 cup of milk and make it 2 cup. Keep it aside.
Heat ½ tsp of ghee in a pan and fry all the dry fruits a little and keep aside.
Now in a pan add ghee then add bay leaves and then suji.
Fry suji for a minute so that the color don’t change now add a pinch of salt, sugar and elaichi powder, and the fried dry fruits mix well.
Add warm milk and let it boil. Stir and cook for 2 minutes and then put off the flame. Put it on a serving dish sprinkle rose water if using.
Garnish with fried cashew, raisin and pistachio and rose petals.
Serve hot or cold with simple poori or meva stuffed poori or if you want to cut short calories have it with multigrain Indian flat bread (roti)

I think Jagruti you will love this safed halwa and your blog readers will love it too.
Be Happy And Stay Healthy.
Sutapa

Thank you very much Sutupa for this yummylicious Sooji Halwa recipe and guest post. There's something new that I have learnt here- adding bay leaves in halwa. I am very eager to try it out soon, and I am sure our readers will follow your recipe and blog too.

It's an honor to have you on JCO !!

Double Celebrations with sinful Kala Jamun !!! Reposted

2012-05-10T19:32:00.000+01:00

Yes, we are celebrating two events here...First of all India Republic Day....wishing you all a very Happy Republic Day !!!! and the second being the birthday of our young adorable princess Hayley !!!! so i decide to make something sweet what she loves...not only her but everyone....

Kala Jamun are dark brown gulab jamuns made from paneer and khoya and then deep fried and coated with sugar syrup..very similar way the you make Gulab Jamun, but the kala Jamun has that unique flavour..which is not very soft like GJ..it has got slightly grainy texture yet very rich..

Delicious - KALA JAMUN

For the kala jamuns

2 cups (250 g) mava (khoya, Milk solid) grated

2 cups (250 g ) Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) grated

5 tbsp plain flour (maida)

1/2 tsp Bicarbo Soda

1/4 teaspoon cardamom (elaichi) powder

1-2 tbsp milk to knead a dough

For the sugar syrup

3 cups sugar a few saffron strands (optional)

Oil for deep frying

For the sugar syrup :-

1. In a large pan, combine the sugar with 1 litre of water and bring to a boil.

2. Simmer over a slow flame till the syrup is 1 string consistency.

3. Remove any impurities which float on top of the syrup using a slotted spoon.

4. Add the saffron if desired and keep the syrup warm.

Mehtod:-

1. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients, mix well and knead into a firm dough with milk.

2. Divide this mixture into 25 equal portios and roll into rounds. These should have no cracks on the surface as otherwise the jamuns will crack while frying.

3. Deep fry in oil over a medium flame till the jamuns are dark brown in colour (for approx 10 to 12 minutes).

4. Drain and immerse in the warm sugar syrup. Soak for 30 minutes.

5. Garnishe with dessicated coconut coating and serve..

at my house doesn't stay for very long those sinful Kala Jamun...also i want to say a big thank you to Devi Meyyappan , who shared an award with me..i am very happy that she thought about me...this time i want to share this award with everyone who visits me here...so please accept the award...Enjoy the day and remember those people who gave up their life for beautiful country India......

Vande Matram !!!!!

Reposted - sending it to JCO's event Celebrate @ JCO- Diamond Jubilee.

Announcing an event - Celebrate ~ Diamond Jubilee

2012-05-10T10:40:00.001+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II is the international celebration throughout 2012 marking the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II to the thrones of seven countries upon the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. Great Britain and other commonwealth countries have planned lots of festivities and events to mark this special occasion. To mark diamond jubilee UK government has decided to have four day jubilee weekend from 2 June-5 June 2012. We all are excited to witness this event of a lifetime !! Excited citizens are arranging lots of events, concerts and street parties to celebrate this occasion...preparations are in full swing !! everyone is so enthusiastic to pay their tribute to the queen's monarchy..if so, then why should JCO stay behind ?
To show our support and tribute to Queen I am announcing an event , same time I am announcing a series Celebrate...give you details below.

Celebrate @ JCO ~ Diamond Jubilee

As you all know Diamond Jubilee is a Royal celebration ..there will be lots of rich food in the parties and events...So I want you guys to prepare some Rich and Royal dishes which are fit for a Queen ( although I doubt the Queen is allowed to have this type of food ) :-)...but hey guys I want you to prepare it anyway...sweet or savoury, choice is yours !
Also it is a diamond jubilee, so you can make or decorate your foods in diamond shapes.

(Diamond Jack pics courtesy-kemptownsociety.org Jubilee cake pics taken by me at cake fair 2012)

Few guidelines to follow:-

No limit to the number of entries.
Link this event announcement on your post.

Use of logo is not compulsory, but usage is encouraged as it helps to spread the word.
Dated entries will be accepted if they are re-posted and linked back to this event.
You can send entries to our email if linky doesn't work jagrutiscookingodyssey1971@gmail.com with the following details.

1.Your Name
2.Your Blog name
3.Recipe Name
4.Recipe URL
5.Picture of your recipe
Also non bloggers can send their entries to my email ID and the subject line with your name, Recipe,and the picture of your recipe.

In this series of Celebrations I will add many themes. For now I am giving you few. If you are interested in hosting these events please let me know, so we can advice you how to go about these events and arrange everything for you.

Celebrate- Street Party food (June-July) host - Shama Nagarajan
Celebrate - Olympic Game (July-August)
Celebrate-15th August ( August-September ) Geetha Nair
Celebrate-Month of Shravan ( 20th July-18th August )
Celebrate-Monsoon of India ( July-September ) - Sayantani
Celebrate-Navratri-Diwali ( Oct 1st-2th Nov )
Celebrate-Christmas ( 1st Dec-31st Dec )
Celebrate-26th January ( 1st Jan-31st Jan 2013 )

Watch this space !!

2012-05-10T00:00:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Karela Aloo Sabji-Bitter Gourd and Potato for Blog hop Wednesday 9th May

2012-05-09T00:00:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Finally I am in. Very excited to join Blog Hop Wednesday brainchild of Radhika , author of the Tickling palates. I've seen many food bloggers when they post their recipes and mentioned about this concept, I started growing interest in it, but same time I wasn't sure what to do ? how to do ? and above all will I be able to keep up with it ? But Radhika explained me very well and I am ready with my first entry...it is wonderful idea to know many other bloggers, that know you and most amazing thing that you get out from your comfort zone and try out some new recipes of theirs...!

Radhika's words

"This venture is an attempt to broaden our culinary skills, get to know each other and try out new recipes and at the same time be connected with other bloggers meanwhile making ourselves into becoming the best cook. Throw in some interaction, suggestion, ideas with a new blogger it will be added fun giving us all a chance to visit others space and going through it fully."

This week I am paired with Santosh Bangar of Santosh's Kitchen. Her blog is full of traditional and fusion recipes. It was very hard for me to choose one recipe, but after thinking so much I settled on Bottle gourd and Potato ...it was a perfect dish for us, as we had lots of sugary food during the weekend, so wanted to give our body a bit of detox with karela.
Thank you Santosh ji for this lovely recipe. We all liked it in my family !

You will need:-

Bittergourd - Karela-250gm
potato-2
onion-2
coriander powder-1tsp
red chilippowder-1/2tsp
turmeric powder-1/2tsp
amchoor[dry mango powder]1/2 tsp
garam masala-1/2 tsp
methi seeds-1t
salt to taste
mustered oil-4tbsp ( I did use sunflower oil )

Method:-
Peel the karela and rub the salt on it.
Leave it aside about an hour.
Then wash and wipe with kitchen paper.
Cut the potatoes, karela and onion lengthwise.
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, add methi seeds.
when they go lightly brown , add karela and mix well.
Cover with lid and cook for 10 minutes, stir once or twice in between.
Add all the ground masala except garam masala and amchoor powder.
Mix well, cover and cook on a low heat till done.
Add garam masala and Amchoor powder. Mix once more.
Serve with hot roti, phulka or paratha.

Iss chutney ko kya Naam doo ?- What shall I call this chutney?

2012-05-07T16:15:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Lol friends..must be you are thinking that may be I am regular viewer of this Indian soap opera " Iss pyar ko kya naam doo ?" I have never watched this serial...sometimes when just flickering the channels and you see the info, that's all !! Do you watch this soap ?

Coming to my today's recipe which is Chutney...which I created myself around 3 years ago. I made Aloo Bonda one evening, it was Sunday, a rainy and windy day...We have aloo bonda with various type of chutneys. And my bad luck was on that day I did not have any chutney in my fridge or freezer, on top of that kids were hungry they wanted to eat..I started panic, I offered my daughter to have aloo bonda with tomato ketchup...she replied me that it would taste like" I am having potato chips with ketchup"..she refused my idea. Normally she loves fresh coriander chutney..I looked in the fridge, there were few leaves of fresh coriander which are not enough for chutney or grinder. Still I took out coriander, and started crushing in the pastle and morter, while I was crushing it, I thought about my Aunt in law ( she makes chutney out of anything ) I thought why can't I ? and I opened my fridge once more..Bingo, I spotted few things..quickly I prepared chutney, served it to my kids and hubby, Praises came straight away, since then we would never have our aloo bonda without this chutney..But now I have one problem, can't decide what name should I give this chutney ? I need your help after reading the post please do suggest me a lovely name..If we really like the name, I will give that name to this chutney....:)
Shall we look at the recipe ?

You will need:-

2-3 tbsp fresh finely chopped corinader
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
salt to taste
1 garlic clove
1 tsp red chilli flakes
3-4 tbsp tomato ketchup
3-4 tbsp chilli sauce
2-3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Method:-
Place corinader, cumin seeds, garlic clove and salt ( you don't need much as all the sauces have salt in them ) in mortar bowl and crushed to coarse paste with pastle. you can use grinder if you want, but don't make it to a fine paste. Transfer the corinader mixture into a big bowl. Add all the sauces into corinader mix. Mix well , adjudt the seasoning and serve with any pakora or savoury pancakes.

Aloo Bhathure - Indian deep fried bread stuffed with potatoes

2012-05-06T18:33:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Few days ago hubby requested choley bhathure for the weekend...so I made it yesterday ! While I was preparing the bhathure dough, I started thinking about my child hood trip to Delhi...all the memories flooded in my mind...My whole experience can be read here...and I thought about stuffed bhathure..and so I made my mind up to make potato stuffed bhathure. I made few bhathure with potato stuffing and they came out so well, every bhathure had fluffed up so well...Every bite of these bhathure was delightful, and we devoured them in no time with yogurt and pineapple chutney at tea time !

Note :- In the picture you can't see bhathure much fluffed because when I took the pics later they were deflated.
You will need:- Bhathure

2 cup Plain flour

1/4 cup semolina(fine)

1 tsp fast action dry yeast

1 tsp each salt and sugar

1tsp ghee or oil

Oil for deep frying

1/2 cup warm milk

Method:-
Sieve the plain flour, add ghee,semolina,milk,yeast and knead to a smooth dough with little warm water.
Cover with a muslin cloth and keep aside for more than 3-4 hours. This ferments the dough.

You will need :- Potato stuffing

2 large potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed
2 tsp green chillies and ginger crushed
salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
handful chopped coriander
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of hing ( asafoetida )
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Method :-
Heat oil in a non stick pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter add hing and chilles and ginger.
Fry for few seconds, add ground turmeric, chilli powder and salt.
Now add mashed potatoes, mix well.
Add sugar, lemon juice and coriander. Mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Turn the heat off. Leave the mixture aside to cool.
After cooled down, make small balls from the potato mixture.

Make small balls from the dough, roll into thick puri (small circles). Place a one potato ball stuffing in it.

Meanwhile put oil in a kadai ( WOK ) to heat on medium heat.
Wrap up the thick puri and close the dough from all sides. You'll have round dough ball once more.

Gently press the stuffed ball and place it on the rolling board.
Roll it a bit thick with the rolling pin. ( I needed dry flour to roll the ball, as it was slightly sticking on the rolling board ).
Oil must be hot now, slide the rolled bhathura into hot oil.
Press bhathura slightly with perforated spoon ( jaro) to make fluffy bhathura.
Fry till both side very light golden brown.
Remove it from the oil with the help of perforated spoon.

Serve hot with choley or any chutney and yogurt.
I had mine with fried green chillies to accelerate the taste.

Revealing the secret with Dudhi na Muthiya - Steamed Bottle Gourd fist cakes

2012-05-04T20:07:00.001+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,
For me any type of muthiya and hot cup of masala tea is a welcome treat any time of the day ! for us this perfect spicy snack is always very satisfying..! what more can you ask for in life when you have the sun shining, one mug of tea, one bowl dudhi na muthiya and a book to read..sitting on your hammock...ahhhh bliss...hang on a sec guys..I am dreaming here, still there is no sunshine for us :(

Today I will reveal the secret of how to make dudhi na muthiya which are moist and fluffy inside and golden crispy texture outside . Past so many years I have tried so many different ingredients to make dudhi na muthiya. Not saying they were not tasty enough, but some how I felt that I can make a better attempt.

At times I have added geen chillies, pickle oil also few different flours were used.
Few years back while I was making the dudhi na muthiya, I spotted Achaar Masala bottle ( Pickle Masala ) and I thought instead of pickle oil, I'll add achaar masala and regular oil. I had a result what I wanted...it had the desired result ! they just melt in your mouth..

You will need:- fist cakes ( muthiya

250 g dudhi grated ( bottle gourd )
250 g whole wheat flour or chapatti atta ( I use wholemeal flour, which is very healthy and coarse )
50 g Dhokla flour ( if you don't have use ground rice and gram flour )
25 g semolina
100 ml oil
salt to taste
1 tsp carom seeds
2-3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp dry mango powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp kasoori methi
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin and coriander
1-2 tsp achaar masala
1 tsp Desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

You will need for tempering

3-4 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds ( I use more than that )
pinch of hing ( asafoetida )
1 tbsp sesame seeds

Method:-
Place all the ingredients of muthiya in a big bowl.
Mix very well to make a dough. Do not need any water as dudhi releases its natural water.
Apply a little oil on your hands and divide the mixture into 2-3 parts. Then pressing in your fists into cylindrical shapes and place in a steamer.
Whichever method you prefer. Insert a knife after 20-30 mins and see that it comes out clean, meaning its cooked.
Let it cool a little and slice each roll into thin oval-shaped pieces.
Heat more oil for tampering and add 1 tsp mustard seeds, Sesame seeds and asafoetida. When they start spluttering add steamed muthiya pieces and saute them for few minutes or until they get slightly golden brown.
Ready to serve.
Enjoy with Tea or any type of chutney or dip.

You can serve as a breakfast too, if you get chance do try this snack over the weekend.
Have a great long weekend.

Thank You and Happy Moments !!!! -

2012-05-04T08:30:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

I really appreciated your time and effort for when you voted for my recipe Pistachio cupcakes last month. Even though I did not win the full competition, I am overwhelmed to tell you that one more of my recipes has been published in this months Take a Break -My favourite recipe magazine.
I would be grateful if once again you can spare a minute to vote for my recipe.

Humbly, I am letting you know that the prize money which I got from the previous issue was donated to needy children in India. The same goes for the current recipe.

My recipe is :- Spiced-up pasta with roasted peanuts
Page No is :- 12
Name :- Jagruti Dhanecha

Here is the link...
http://www.facebook.com/#!/myfavouriterecipes/app_142288745871074

Thank you :)

Taju Keri Nu Athanu~Aam Ki Launji~Instant Mango Pickle

2012-05-02T22:20:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,
A crescendo of mangoes takes place March through July every year in India. They roll into the markets in small numbers at the start of the season, expensive and aloof; by the time the harvest peaks this month they are all over the place, playfully cheap and ready to be squeezed and inspected by all.

Right now, mango frenzy is in full swing, not only in India, but in UK too ! we the Indians have become very fond indeed of a fruit that is absent for so much of the year, Outside the season many must console themselves with their mother's homemade mango pickles. As soon as the mango season arrive women all over India will soon get down to pickling..and as far as I remember my mum was one of them :), every home make signature pickles recipe that have been passed down through generations of women.

This recipe of mango pickle, mum used to make in the beginning of the mango season. Great thing about this pickle is that you can consume as soon as it's made, also not much heat from the sun is required for it to be prepared as here in UK, where sun plays hide and seek with us all the time, This is ideal to be made and consumed in short time. Small portions can be made on the stove and served freshly. Ideally most type of pickles are made in the blazing sun where the fruit and veg required for the pickles are dried, and these pickles have longer shelf life.

You will need:-

1 cup raw mango ( green ) peeled and cubed
1 tsp panch phoran ( optional, if you want just use 1/2 tsp each fennel seeds and nigella seeds )
3-4 tsp dhana jeera powder ( dry coriander and cumin seeds powder )
11/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 cup jaggary ( can use sugar )
salt to taste
2-3 tbsp oil

Method:-
Boil water in a pan, add mango pieces and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Drain the water and leave it aside.
Heat oil in a non stick pan, add the panch phoran or ( fennel and nigella ) seeds, when they pop add boiled mango cubes and saute them for 1-2 minutes.
Add all the powder, jaggary or sugar with salt. Add 1-2 tbsp water.
Stir and simmer till the jeggary or sugar is dissolved.
Let it cool completely.
You can store at room temperature for up to 2-3 days.
Store in the fridge for up to 5-6 days.
Serve with puri, paratha or sandwiches.
Enjoy..I served mine with Palak Puri :)

Sending this to Radhika's event Let's Cook with Fruit. and Anjali's event Cooking made easy with Mangoes.

Chana Masala and Kasoori Methi Peanuts ~ Spicy Masala and Dried Fenugreek coated Peanuts

2012-04-30T21:20:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,
Love it or loathe it, the fact is that IPL-Indian Premier league season 5, cricket’s most glamorous Twenty20 tournament has returned in full swing !! T-20 fever is not only spread all over India but has spread to every corner of the earth...and certainly in my family too !

Being cricket fanatics we love to watch IPL matches with the whole family..however I do not like to support any particular team, as I do not live in India, also, there isn't any team from Gujarat state so I am supporting every team and just want to enjoy good entertaining matches...

and while watching and enjoying these matches, the family expect some shandaar (delightful) snacks to munch! So I prepared this chana masala and kasoori methi peanuts..if you think Chris Gayle can hit sixes and watch the ball vanish every time, make these super and mighty spicy masala peanuts and watch them vanished too in no time !!!! I can guarantee you they are as highly addictive as IPL!

You will need:-

1 cup raw peanuts
2 tsp chana masala ( choley masala)
1/2 tsp black pepper powder or red chilli powder
2 tsp oil
salt to taste
1 tsp kasoori methi ( dry fenugreek leaves)

Method:-

You can use any nuts. Instead of kasoori methi use dried basil or rosemary leaves. Chana Masala and dried fenugreek leaves available in any Indian store.

Palak Puri ~ deep fried spinach Indian bread

2012-04-27T11:40:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,
Since my teenage days I have a habit to scribble down any recipes if I like it so much, I am not shy or afraid in asking people if I like their dish..I have many notebooks which I have filled it up with written recipes, rather than bought one ! most of the time I forget that I have such a recipe in my notebook. While I was spring cleaning the house few days ago, I found few notebooks :) It's written in Gujarati !

In UK, when summer is on it's way, we get lots of fresh leafy vegetables and greens, especially in Indian shops greens like palak, methi, dhaniya get's very cheap..sometimes even 50 pence for 3-4 bunches :) and I love to get hold of that bargain..so I bought few bunches of palak ( spinach ) from the shop it was 99p for 4 bunches, made saag aloo from 3 bunches and one was left. So next day I thought will make Palak Puri, recipe I found in my notebook :-)

Made for tea as my kids love to have something different all the time. It was very tasty, I can't say it's healthy, because after all it is deep fried,however if your kids or some adults who refuses to eat spinach, this is the best way introduced them to spinach :)

Although I have written recipe here, I made few changes in this recipe..I did not add any ghee and I did not blanched spinach leaves. Palak puri's mostly served mainly for breakfast, for me I can have any time...also great for travelling, because it is fried, it keeps for long without going bad.

You will need:-You will need slotted spoon to fry puris.

1 bunch or packet palak ( spinach ) you can use baby spinach
Oil for deep fry + 3 tbsp
salt to taste
2 cup whole wheat flour or chapatti flour
1 tsp carom seeds ( ajwain ) optional
1 tsp red chilli flakes or red chilli powder
2-3 green chillies

Method:-
Wash the spinach in cold water.
Cook spinach in microwave for 3-4 minutes with 2-3 tbsp water.
Let it cool.
Grind the spinach and green chillies in a grinder, and make smooth paste.
In a big bowl add flour, salt, chilli flakes, 3 tbsp oil and spinach puree. Make sure there are no lumps in the spinach puree, otherwise puri will not puff as it should.
Mix everything well. I don't think you'll need any water to form a dough, but if you think then just a 1-2 tbsp water. Knead into a soft dough.
Cover the bowl with cloth, give it a rest and knead again.
Heat oil in heavy bottom kadai or wok.
Divide dough into small lime size equal balls. Lightly oil surface and roll out into thin round shape.
Carefully pick up bread and slip into kadai; use slotted spoon to gently to immerse puri.
Turn puri on other side and by now it should puff.
The moment it turns a light brown colour, take it out on an absorbent paper.

Serve hot with tea, any pickle or yogurt. We had ours with homemade instant mango pickle. Recipe is coming soon..Enjoy !

Mixed Cereal Chevdo ~ Savoury Cereal Snack

2012-04-26T00:00:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed Hello readers,

Few weeks ago myself and my friend Nayna both went to a cupcake decoration class in London. We both really enjoyed ourselves with few other ladies.

On the way back Nayna invited me to her house for lunch..She really spoiled me with an elaborate lunch, in few minutes she cooked Methi Poodla, Rice khichee with lots of dips and pickles..everything was so yummy :), and also she took out this cereal chevdo for me, I was amazed by just looking at it, when I ate it I was blown away...before I even said anything she filled up a big bag for my family..she told me that this recipe was shared with her by her friend..

Thank you so much Nayna !! Next time it's your turn to come to my house :) Since then I have been making this chevdo every week for my family..also it's not only a hit with my family, but in my daughter's friends family too !!!!!!! there is a little change in my recipe..I did not add turmeric powder and dried red chillies.

You will need:- Basic Cereals

1 small bowl of each around 100 gms

Cornflakes
Cheerios
Bran flakes
All bran sticks
Rice crisps
Shredded wheat
Shreddies
Multi grain start
Almonds
Cashew nuts

Masala

2-3 tbsp oil
3-4 green chillies sliced ( round )
10-12 curry leaves
5-6 cloves
1-2 small Cinnamon sticks
salt to taste
2-3 tbsp sugar
1/4 to 1/2 tsp citric acid ( limbu na phool)
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder

Method:-
Roast almonds and cashew nuts in the oven or in microwave about 5-6 minutes.
Place all the cereals and nuts in a large bowl.
Grind sugar and citric acid into coffee grinder and grind till it turns into fine powder separately, add three quarter into the cereal. Also add chilli powder and salt in to the cereal, mix very well.
Heat oil in a small pan, add cloves and cinnamon and fry for few seconds, remove from the oil and add into cereal bowl. In remaining hot oil add curry leaves and fry till little crispier, remove and add in to the cereal bowl. In same oil add green chillies and fry till they are crispy ( be careful chilli seeds might pop out ) pour oil and chillies in to the cereal mixture. Gently give it a good mix with your hands, so all the spices and sugar coats over the cereal really well . If the flavouring isn't too strong to how you would like, then add the remaining ground sugar and citric acid. Give another good mix. When the cereal mixtures cool down transfer into a air tight container. Serve on it's own or if you want to have it for breakfast take a bowl of yogurt and have it turn by turn...

Enjoy as much as my family does, I have to warn you guys the above measurement of ingredients is not enough for more than a week..:)
Sending this to Sameena's event Snacks recipes. also to Raji's event Only Sncks and Starters , started by Pari.http://cooking-goodfood.blogspot.in/

Masoor aur Makai ~ Masoor lentils and Sweetcorn Daal/Curry

2012-04-25T10:44:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Hosepipe ban in UK ???? you all must be thinking how is it possible, but sadly UK has faced one of the driest two year periods on record...so government and water suppliers all have introduced " temporary use bans " and Hosepipe ban will effect nearly 20 million customers in UK..also face fines
of up to £ 1000 ...:( The government has urged householders to be "smarter about how we use water".

However since this ban is in place..looks like god has listened our prayers, past 10-12 days we are having rain...yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I am so happy ! but same time rain has brought once again cooler temperature and traffic chaos ! and because of continuous rain I did not go for shopping and I was without Indian vegetables, guess what? my daughter gets happy when I don't have Indian vegetables :)

So I thought I'll soak some lentils and will cook for dinner. Then same time I saw in my freezer that I have two open bags of Sweetcorn, I thought I'll make corn curry too. But then again I thought I don't want to make two two dishes..so came with an idea why don't I use lentils and sweetcorn in one dish ? Dish came out so well, we all enjoyed it, I took a pictures of the dish and posted on my FB wall, and few friends asked for recipe too :) here is the recipe

You will need:-

1 bowl whole Masoor ( I used green one-wider ) you can use red kidney beans too
1 bowl sweetcorn ( I used frozen )
2-3 tbsp green chillies, ginger and garlic crushed
2-3 tbsp roasted peanuts powder ( optional )
2-3 medium tomatoes crushed
few fresh curry leaves
1/2 tsp kasoori methi ( optional )
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp dhana jeera powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds

Method:-
Rinse masoor 2-3 times, soak for an hour and pressure cook with adding 2-3 cups of water. I cook mine on a medium heat with 6-7 whistles or till soft. If you don't have pressure cooker:- Please see link here how to cook Masoor without pressure cooker. Keep boiled masoor aside.

Grind chillies, garlic and ginger in a grinder with tomatoes. Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan, add mustard seeds, when crackle add curry leaves and kasoori methi, fry for few seconds and add tomato pulp with CGG paste. Lower the heat, add red chilli , tumeric, garam masala, dhana jeera powder and salt. Cook masala till oil is visible on the side of pan.

Now add frozen sweetcorn and peanut powder. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes. add boiled masoor, mix very well. Add 1/2 - 1 cup of water. Cook it for 10-12 minutes,stir in between. Add little water if massor dal is too thick. then cook further 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat. Ready to serve with hot roti and mixed salad.

Enjoy !!

Glance at my roots with Daal Baati aur Churma

2012-04-24T11:03:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,
JCO wishes one and all a very happy Akshaya Tritiya, may god bless you with joy, happiness and best health on this auspicious day !! also wishing our master blaster,little master , SACHIN TENDULKAR ( cricketer ) a very Happy Birthday !!!!!!!

Last week me and my brother were talking on the phone, we do talk at least an hour when we talk, and he mentioned that he has invited our Mami ( aunt ) and her family for Sunday lunch. And from there we started talking about our family ancestors and their family..my mum's side family migrated 200 yrs ago from Rajstan state. We still have few families in Rajsthan and our masi ( mum's elder sister's family) over there. So we always had Rajsthani food influence in our life. My mum used to make so many Rajstahni dishes, we used to love it, now my kids and hubby love it too.. however I haven't posted many Rajsthani recipes on my blog..

So from that conversation my thoughts landed me on Rajsthani famous dish Daal Baati and Churma ! It's not fair when you talk about Rajsthani food and if we don't mention daal baati...Baati - Flaky round breads baked over firewood or over cow dung as done in villages, my mum used to make it on Sigdi ( barbecue )..but here I make in the oven ...however one thing common for Baatis whatever their cooking technique is they are always served dipped in ghee accompanied with Panchmel daal !!!!

So next day I made daal batti and churma :)

You will need:-Panchmel Daal ( five sorts of mix daal )

1 cup of mix daal ( Split bengal gram daal, Toover daal, green moong daal, urad daal and masoor daal) I did not use green moong daal instead I used yellow moong daal
2-3 tbsp green chillies, ginger and garlic crushed
3-4 tbsp Oil
1 tbsp ghee
salt to taste
2 medium tomatoes chopped
1/2 tsp amchoor powder ( dry mango powder )
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
2 tsp dhana jeera powder ( dry cumin and coriander powder )
1-2 baylaeves
2-4 dry red chillies
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp kasoori methi
pinch of hing ( asafoetida )
water

Method:-
Wash all the daal. In a large pressure cooker heat the oil. When it is hot, add cumin seeds and hing. When the cumin seeds get brown add all of the daals and fry them for a few seconds. Now add water with salt and turmeric powder. Close the pressure cooker lid and cook til you hear three whistles. Allow to cool naturally.
Open the pressure cooker and transfer the cooked daal into a heavy bottom pan and add the remaining ingredients. In a small pan heat ghee, add bay leaves and dried red chillies when they start to crackle add in the daal. Let the daal simmer for about 10-12 minutes on a medium heat. Adjust the consistency before you serve the daal, if daal is thick add little water.

If you do not have pressure cooker - wash and soak all the daals for at least 3-4 hours. Boil the daal in 3-4 cups of water at least 40-50 minutes.

You will need - Baati

1 cup whole wheat flour ( roti atta )
1/4 cup semolina
2 tbsp gram flour ( besan )
4 tbsp ghee ( clarified butter ) melted
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4-5 tbsp cream

Method:-
Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.
Mix all the baati ingredients into a bowl.
Make a stiff dough using some Luke warm water.
Leave it for 10 minutes.
Divide the dough into small portions and shape them into small ball. Press the balls slightly with the thumb on the top.
Place the baati balls on a baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes or till golden brown.

You will need :- Churma

3-4 battis ( hot )
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup ghee
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Method:-
Crush baatis into coarse chunks while they are hot, you can grind into mixture as well. Add ghee, sugar and cardamom powder. Mix well .

Serve hot baatis with hot daal and pampered your taste buds with sweet and sinful Churma !!

Courgette and Chili Crown bread

2012-04-22T17:20:00.000+01:00

Made n Enjoyed
Hello readers,

Very interesting stuff ...Look up your birthday and see what you are ? will tell you about me in the End ;-)
January 01 - 09 ~ Bird
January 10 - 24 ~ Slug
January 25 - 31 ~ Cockroach
February 01 - 05 ~ Parasite
February 06 - 14 ~ Bullfrog
February 15 - 21 ~ Skunk
February 22 - 28 ~ Snake
March 01 - 12 ~ Ape
March 13 - 15 ~ Cockroach
March 16 - 23 ~ Slug
March 24 - 31 ~ Parasite
April 01 - 03 ~ Bird
April 04 - 14 ~ Snake
April 15 - 26 ~ Slug
April 27 - 30 ~ Skunk

May 01 - 13 ~ Slug
May 14 - 21 ~ Bullfrog
May 22 - 31 ~ Cockroach
June 01 - 03 ~ Slug
June 04 - 14 ~ Skunk
June 15 - 20 ~ Bird
June 21 - 24 ~ Ape
June 25 - 30 ~ Parasite
July 01 - 09 ~ Slug
July 10 - 15 ~ Bird
July 16 - 26 ~ Bullfrog
July 27 - 31 ~ Parasite

August 01 - 15 ~ Ape
August 16 - 25 ~ Slug
August 26 - 31 ~ Skunk
September 01 - 14 ~ Bullfrog
September 15 - 27 ~ Parasite
September 28 - 30 ~ Bird
October 01 - 15 ~ Ape
October 16 - 27 ~ Skunk
October 28 - 31 ~ Snake
November 01 - 16 ~ Cockroach
November 17 - 30 ~ Parasite
December 01 - 16 ~ Bird
December 17 - 25 ~ Ape
December 26 - 31 ~ Bullfrog

If you are a Bird: A very loyal and sweet person. Your loyalty can never be doubted. You are quite honest and sincere when it comes to your attitude towards working. You are a very simple person, indeed. Absolutely hassle free, humble and down-to-earth!! That explains the reason why your friends cling on to you! You have a good taste for clothes. If your wardrobe is not updated with what is trendy, you sure are depressed. Popular and easy-going. You have a little group of dignified friends, all of them being quality-personified.

If you are a Slug : Always up to some sort of a mischief! The mischievous gleam in your eyes is what makes you so cute and attractive to everyone. You are an extremely fun-to-be-with kind of person. No wonder people seek for your company and look forward to include you for all get-together. However, you are sensitive which is a drawback. People need to select their words while talking to you. If someone tries to fiddle around and play with words while dealing with you, it is enough to invite your wrath. God bless the person then!

If you are a Cockroach : Quite contradictory to your name, you are a peace loving person.. You best try to avoid a situation wherein you are required to fight.. An outdoor person, you disike sitting at one place for a long duration. You are a born leader, and have it in you how to tactfully derive work from people. You love being loved, and when you receive your share of limelight from someone, you are all theirs!!!! Well, well... Hence some people could even take an advantage, flatter you to the maximum and get their work done. So be careful.....

If you are a Parasite : An extremely lovable, adorable person, sometimes shy, with a passion for quick wit. At times, you prefer quietness. You love exploring various things and going into depth of each thing. Under normal circumstances you're cool but when given a reason to, you are like a volcano waiting to erupt. You're a fashion bird. People look forward to you as an icon associated with fashion. Basically, you mingle along freely but don't like talking muchh to strangers. People feel very easy in your company. You observe care in choosing your friends.

If you are a Skunk : You are near to perfect and nice at heart. The examples of your kindness are always circulated in groups of people. You, too, love peace. You wouldn't like to retaliate even to a person who is in the wrong. You are loved due to this. You do not wish to talk behind ones back. People love the way you always treat them. You can give, give and give love, and the best part is that you do not expect it back in return. You are generous enough. Seeing things in a practical light is what remains the best trait of you guys.

If you are a Bullfrog : You symbolise a very happy-go-lucky approach in life. Whatever the surroundings may be, grim or cheerful, you remain unaffected. In fact, you spread cheer wherever you go. You are the leader of your group of friends and good at consoling people in their times of need. You dislike hypocrisy and tend to shirk away from hypocrites. They can never be in your good books, no matter what. You are very methodical and organised in your work. No amount of mess, hence, can ever encompass you. Beware; it is easy for you to fall in love....

If you are a Snake : You are mysterious. You are someone who can handle pressure with ease, and can handle any atmosphere without going berserk. You can be mean at times, and love to gossip with your selected group. Very prim and proper. You like all situations and things to be in the way you desire, which, sometimes is not possible. As a result, you may lose out in some relationships. But otherwise, you love to help people out from difficult and tight spots when they really need you.

If you are a Ape : Very impatient and hyper!!! You want things to be done as quick as possible. At heart, you are quite simple and love if you are the centre of attraction. That way, you people are unique. You would like to keep yourself safe from all the angles. Shall your name be dragged or featured in any sort of a controversy, you then go all panicky. Therefore, you take your precautions from the very beginning. When you foresee anything wrong, your sixth sense is what saves you from falling in traps. Quite a money minded bunch you people are!!

You will need:-

2 medium courgette ( around 450 g ) grated
salt to taste
500 g plain flour
2 sachets fast action dried yeast
4 tbsp cheese grated ( I used chadder )
2 tbsp olive oil
black pepper
1 tbsp red chili flakes
milk to glaze
2 tbsp sesame seeds for garnishing

Method:-

Place courgette in a colander and sprinkle small amount of salt. Leave to drain for 30 minutes, then pat dry.
In a bowl mix flour, yeast, cheese and chili flakes. Seasoned with black pepper.
Stir in the oil and courgette, add enough luke warm water to give a firm dough. Knead on a floured surface until smooth.
Leave it to rise in a warm place until double in size.Grease and line round sandwich tin.Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 ( 200 C ). Break into balls, rolling each one and placing them in the tin. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
Allow to rise again, then bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool slightly in the tin, then turn out the bread to cool further.
Serve with butter and tea or coffee.

BTW I'M PARASITE ( Nov 17-30 ) .......;-)

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