Dal dhokli

My friend has been telling me, that off late there has been no recipes in my blog, so here's one for her...

This is actually my comfort food, as it is made from leftovers, really doesnt require much efforts, and tastes great. Its a part of the Gujrati cuisine, has a sweet sour taste...


Ingredients

1 cup toor dal
3-4 spoons of raw groundnut
tamarind
haldi
hing
salt
jaggery
chapati dough or chapati dough which has chilli powder, jeera and haldi.

Since for me this is a comfort food, i normally use the chapati dough, but the original recipe calls for masala chapati dough.

But trust me, it reallie doesnt matter, if you are not extremely finicky about the taste.


Step1: cook the dal, along with hing, salt, haldi, and ground nut.
Step2: Make roti, and cut diamond shapes out of the roti, dont cook the roti as of now
Step 3: Take oil, add jeera, add 1 cup water, add dal, add tamarind pulp, jaggery. The consistency should be a bit watery than the normal dal.
Step 4: Add the diamond shaped roti's and cook it for 2 mins.

And you are done.

This is a dish, which you need to relish hot, and recooking just spoils the taste. So only make it when you are just about to have it...

Rava idli cum Cheat Dhokla

Me being a south indian, i love idlis...but making idlis at home comes with its own set of dependencies, presaoking, grinding, etc etc...
I am not much of a planner, so these idlis come in handy to satiate my south indian craving or my hubby's Dhokla cravings :)

Ingredients:
1 cup Rava
1/4 th cup Curd
1/4 tsp Baking soda
2 tsp Oil

Mix rava, yoghurt, soda and oil.
The consistency should be the same as normal idli batter
Let it rest for 30 mins
Grease the idli plates, and make idlis by steaming it for 10-15 mins..
Idlis ready


How to use it as Cheat Dhokla's
Cut the idlis into small square shapes.
Heat oil, add lot of mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing.
Now add the cut idlies, salt, and garnish it with coriander leaves.
I use this for my breakfast next day, and the idlis for dinner previous day...

Hehe, a working women, has to come up with so much of cheat codes to take care of her laziness :P

Sev Puri

Another one of the quickies, which gets ready in a jiffy, and can be served to any of your surprise guests :P
I was born in Kerala and bought up in Mumbai, thus Chaats are very much a part of my staple diet...i love gobbling on the pani puri's by the roadside or the sweet chatni wala bhel..

here goes my version of sev puri

Ingredients:
Puri---available from the local stores
Khajoor imli ki chutney(boil seedless date, add tamarind pulp, salt, sugar/jaggery, amchoor powder, blend it)
Coriander mint chutney(bunch of coriander + half quantity of mint+ green chilly+ salt+ ginger piece)
Boiled Potatoes
Sev, boondi
Onion, tomato, coriander leaves finely chopped
Chana dal

Steps:
1) Take the puri, put in the mashed potato, put coriander chutney, khajoor chutney
2) Garnish it with sev, boondi, onion, and tomato...

During summer season, when i can get hold of raw mango, i do add finely chopped pieces of it, along with onion and tomato, the tangy flavor rocks
For a healthy version you can also put in sprouts...when i am bored with sev puri, i more or less follow the same recipe with Pani puri wala round puri, and call it as masala puri...
Masala puri is equally famous as a chaat in Mumbai

Brown rice khichdi

For my dearest Friend Anamika:
She has been asking me for quite a while to post some recipes...so here's one for her

This is my Mom's recipe which she cooks when i am down with tonsils and high fever....and i so love this dish, that as i child i used to fake being ill just to have it...

I love this dish for the simplicity it offers coupled with the health benefits...

Due to the hectic schedule that i have had cos of client visit, i found myself having high fever, and nothing else but this dish cooked by my hubby with my instructions ofcourse ;), came to the aid...

Here goes the recipe..

Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice
3/4 cup green moong dal soaked in water for 1 hour atleast
5 spoonfuls of ghee
31/2  cups of water
salt to taste
Steps
Pressure cook the rice, dal, and add the ghee, and put in salt, as per your taste. Wait till upto 7-8 whistles.
I have used more of water, because i love my brown rice moist, and i dont like putting in the chewing effort when i am ill...
My Mom generally cooks by the open pan method, but for time constraints, i use the pressure cook, the results are equally good.
Relish this rice with homemade lemon pickle, i love my Mom's lemon pickle which has lots of garlic in it...

Heath benefits:
Brown rice water is excellent for taking care of the tonsils, and ghee coupled with moong dal gives you the energy that you have lost cos of the fever....These are the benefits that i have observed having this dish.

Matar ki Puri

Its the season of matar, green peas, and i have stocked up green peas in my refrigerator in abundance...I put them in all the veggies that you can think of..starting the day with poha, my lunch veggie, everywhere still they dont seem to finish..........so Matar puri comes to my rescue....and i oh so love them :)

Matar ki puri:

Ingredients
1 cup of green peas
1 boiled potato
green chilles depending on the spice intake that you can handle :P
salt
ginger paste
wheat flour
ajwain
Oil to fry

Steps:
1) Make a dough with flour, salt, and ajwain...it should be a bit tight like the ones we make for puri
2) Grind peas, with ginger, green chilly, salt.
3) Take oil in a pan, saute the above paste till peas has cooked.
4) Now add the boiled mashed potato...
5) Cook for a while, stuffing is ready
6) Make puri's of the dough, and put a spoonful of the stuffing in it, seal it, and again make a puri...
7) Fry the stuffed puri's in small batches, and they are ready to hog.........

What i love about this puri, they taste divine, and the stuffing can be prepared in advance and kept in the freezer for a week, and can be made as and when desired...and ofcourse the health benefits of green peas...

Green peas are power packed with vital vitamins and nutrients.

• They contain many of the vitamins of the B group, required for metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. They are a rich source of vitamin B1 or thiamin. Green peas are full of natural (or folic acid in the synthetic form), a water soluble vitamin B. They are a good source of vitamins B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin) and B6 (pyridoxine).
• Green peas are also rich in vitamins A, C and K.
• They are an excellent source of iron. Moreover, there are considerable amounts of calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, iron and potassium.
• They contain as much protein and energy as meat, being high in good quality protein.
• Green peas are one of the best sources of soluble fiber.
• Finally, they are low in fat.:D

Pav bhaji recipe

It has been a long time, since i have written a post, so starting off with a simple delicacy, which i consider myself as an expert at...
This is my standard recipe for guest who dont give me a prior notice of organizing things.........

Pav bhaji recipe

Ingredients:
2 boiled potatoes
3 chopped onions(keep a little quantity of chopped onions aside for serving purpose)
3 tomatoes
coriander leaves
dhaniya jeera powder
hing
ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
chilly powder
1 capsicum chopped
handful of boiled cauliflower florets
Pav bhaji masala(My preferred one is Badshah Bombay pav bhaji masala)
Lemon
butter


Steps:

1. Take a pan, add butter, add onion, dhaniya jeera powder, hing, salt, and ginger garlic paste, saute it for sometime, until onion becomes soft
2. Add 3 tomatoes, and add chilly powder, capsicum, pav bhaji masala.
3. Cook it for a while, until tomatoes are ready.
4. Now add boiled mashed potatoes, cauliflower florets, and cook for 3-5 mins
5. Garnish with coriander leaves, and add a dash of butter before serving, delicious pav bhaji ready....

Serve it with lemon, and some chopped onions.

The advantage of pav bhaji is you can get away with cooking of roti's, and majority of the preparation of the dish is done by the great pressure cooker...and the result is an effortless tasty dish....

And if you are left with the sabji, you can always use it for toast sandwich, which is even better :), trust me

Dum Alu

Potatoes are very much a staple diet across countries, and to be honest, i love potatoes. Potatoes have the innate ability to taste different based on the kind of preparation. The Europeans like it the in the way of mashed potatoes, which are a staple breakfast item for them, i love crispy finger chips...i always tend to love stuff with high calories, sigh :(

Dum Alu, i belive is a rather exotic presentatin of Alu...the dish has a rich texture, and i generally make it when i have surprise guests, and i am running out of stock for vegetables........
The recipe calls for baby potatoes, but i have always used normal potatoes, and they are fine...

Recipe:
Ingredients
1 potato, boiled, and cut into medium sized chunks
Bayleaf
Garam masala
1 onion
1 tomato
dhaniya jeera powder
ginger garlic paste
kasuri methi
5-6 cashewnuts which are soaked in water
coriander leaves to garnish
2-3 teaspoons of milk, or curd

Step1: Deep fry the boiled potatoes, or you can saute them, i prefer the deep fried version, and keep it separately
Step 2: Take oil, add ginger garlic paste, onion, dhaniya jeera powder, garam masala powder
Step 3: Once onion is cooked, add tomato, add 5-6 saoked cashewnuts
Step 4: Grind the above mix
Step 5: Take oil, add bayleaf, put in the above paste, add little water, milk/curd, potatoes, crushed kasuri methi leaves. Let it cook for around 5 mins
Step 6: Garnish it with coriander leaves, the dish is ready

I make the dish sometimes with millk, or sometimes with curd, and just because of a single ingredient change, there is a large amount of difference......I however like both the versions......

Faluda

I have always been tempted towards anythingsweet, i have a big sweet tooth, and the guest pouring in regularly gives me ample oppurtunity to develop my culinary skills...People occasionally tease me saying, i should have been a Bengali

This weekend, i had the chance to make faluda at home...

Falooda is made primarily by mixing rose syrup with vermicelli and tapioca seeds along with either milk or water. The rose syrup may be substituted with another flavoured base to produce kesar, mango, chocolate, and fig Falooda.


Rose Faluda recipe:

Ingredients:

• Milk
• Sabja seeds, which have been soaked for an hour
• Boiled Vermicelli
• Tuti Fruity
• Cashewnut
• Raisins
• Rose syrup
• Gulkand
• Vanilla Icecream

Steps:

1) Rose milk: Boil milk, add sugar, rose syrup, and gulkand. Let it cool, sieve it, and refrigerate.

2) Boil Vermicelli

3) Chop nuts.


The best part of Faluda, is you can do the preparation in advance, and the assembling is just a matter of seconds


To serve: Take a long glass, put in the half of nuts, tuti fruity add half of the rose milk, add little sabja, add some vermicelli, again add rose milk, now add a scoop of icecream, and again add the nuts and tuti fruity...

If you wish you can add small slices of jam, which can be used deceptively as jelly ;)

All the ingredients have to be layered, to make it look appetising....

I always thought making faluda would be an ordeal, but now that i have taken an active interest in cooking, it seems not all good things are that difficult to make at home, its all about the willingness to do......

The good old beans....My saviour, when i am running out of a time

For the people who have been regular with my blog, must be aware, that nowadays i am running out of a time, i am overwhelmed with work, and i have absolute no energy for cooking once i reach home, neither do i have the time to buy veggies.........

Yesterday, i was hungry like hell, and i wanted to have a good fulfilling dinner, but to my dismay the only veggie that i had at home was beans, and i knew i had to cook sabji for roti, as well a rice item with beans as the main ingredient....

So this two recipes helped me out...

1) Beans sabji(Preparation time: 20 mins)

Take oil, add cumin seeds, hing, jeera, one chopped onion, haldi, dhaniya jeera powder, chilly powder, salt, and chopped beans.( Beans should be chopped 1inch in length, somewhat similar to finger chips length)

Cover it with lid, donot add water, let it cook on the steam, and the water content that the veggie has...
Sabzi ready....


2) Pulav(Preparation time: 15 min)
Take oil, add cumin seeds, hing, tejpatta, akkha garam masala, ie, kalimirch, cinnamon stick, cloves...
Saute till the aroma comes, now add drained rice, peas, and beans, saute for 2-3 mins, till oil coats the veggies as well as rice...
Now add water (1:2 proportion, for 1 cup rice, 2 cup water, plus half cup water for the veggies)
Now let the rice cook...

I had used 1 cup rice, so put 2 and half cup of water, and i had perfect rice pulav...

These were my jiffy recipe cooked yesterday night......and to be honest, they turned out pretty well.. :D.....The advantage of cooking these recipes is it doesnt require much attention, both can be cooked simultaneoulsy, as they donot require constant stirring...


To add to it, here are the health benefits of having beans, which can motivate you to include it as a part of your staple diet:

1) Green beans are an excellent source of manganese, vitamin K and vitamin C.
Vitamin K, which plays an important role in bone health and the prevention of osteoporosis

2) Fresh green beans are very low in calories (31 kcal per 100 g of raw beans) and contain no saturated fat; but are very good source of vitamins, minerals and plant derived micro-nutrients.

3) Fresh snap beans are good source of folates. Folates diet during preconception periods and during pregnancy helps prevent from neural-tube defects in the offsprings.

Have a nice day, beautiful people and reap the benefits of all the beautiful things in life......

Atiti Devo-Bhava ;)

Atithi Devo Bhavah means that guest is God and should be treated like a deity. 'The guest is God' is Indian tourism's version of the customer satisfaction slogan, 'customer is king', once preached by Peter Drucker.

Many of you, might think, what is this got to do with the blog which claims to deal with real life problems, ahem :)

The question is aren't, Guest sometimes a problem when they come without a notice, and are demanding.
Well i agree Guest is God, to avoid sounding rude, i would want Guests to visit me with prior intimation, or visit me when i am in the best of mood to entertain them......
Ofcourse i too love the house surrounded by people, and peels of laughter, and i believe Guest also bring good luck, and if you treat them well, we would be blessed with the same...And its my innate desire to keep them pleased and happy as long as they are at home

But as a working women, and being a short tempered female, i am not always in a jovial mood, so to entertain guest, i need to given a short notice atleast........

I think my home, is forever a welcomer for guest, i have atleast one guest a week....and with being just 2 people at home and guests pouring in regularly, i have some experiences as to how to handle the guest menu..It might come handy.......

The menu goes.......

1) Pav Bhaji: My only motive for chosing Pav bhaji, over roti sabji is, i atleast dont have to make rotis, it saves me the trouble of making roti, and with just the bhaji made, i am more or less comfortable with the main course smoothly taken care of...
For this i make sure, i always have some boiled potatoes handy in the fridge, if the guest dont drop in, i can use it for sandwiches..

2) Sev puri: as a snack item, use the boil potatoes, and green chutney, plus imli khajoor chutney.
I alwys have green chutney and khajoor chutney handy with me.

3) Bhajiya: If i am running out of chutney, nothing else but the good old bhajiyas, i make bhajiyas with all those leftover veggies, and everything that is lying in the fridge, capsicum, flower, cabbage, carrot.

4) Sandwiches: Or the last resort Sandwiches........See the point just having some boiled potatoes handy can go a long way, and save the last minute stress. The main course and snack can be taken care of with the boiled potatoes in my case... :D

5) Kheer: This gets cooked instantly in 15 mins, and the desert is taken care of :)

This is how i manage to satiate my guests.........
Let me know your tips as well, so that i can use it for the guest who have been the victims of the same menu.... :D

Magic with Leftovers

In a country, where streets are fenced with slums, and poor kids beg for food, i believe wasting of food is a crime. I come from humble background,and Mom has always ingrained the values of never wasting food, though i cant say i am very good at it, but i do try my best to manage with leftovers, as i know, there are millions dying for food.......

I also would like to appreciate an initiative by Cognizant, the firm where my husband works, where the employees have been given an awareness session about importance of selecting the right portion of food to avoid wastage, and canteen has important pointers to keep them alert about food wastage....Wish other corporates too take an initiative in creating awareness soon

I pesonally feel, each one of us can take steps to utilize leftovers in a better way:

Few of my ways to use are as follows:

1) Leftover dal: I tend to get wrong with the amount of dal required, i use it the other day, to knead my dough, with salt, and ajwain, to make dal paratha...And trust me its really good.

2) With left over alu ki sabji(This is a rare scenario, with both of us being potato lovers:P), use it as filling with some additons for pattice.
For the filling: Leftover sabji plus along some chopped capsicum, and paneer pieces, add tomato sauce, and filling is ready.

Make a dough of makkai ka atta, plus jowar flour, plus wheat flour(ratio, 2:1:1), and make rotis of it, and while raosting it on the tawa, ensure you semi cook it.
Take the semi cooked roti, put the filling in it, and make shape of the pattice by sticking the edges with help of water. Now refrigerate it for 15 mins, and then deep fry. The outer coat would be crispy, and inside the moist filling. Its scrumptious :D

3) The watery part of curd, and also spoilt milk used for making paneer, i somehow never liked it, and would waste it, this is a tip from my Mom, to knead the dough with the watery part, the roti comes softer as compared to kneading with water, and you avoid the wastage.

4) If you have too many green chillies at home, and you are sure they would be rotten, make a paste of green chillie, and add a drop of oil. Keep it in the freezer, they are fresh for roughly 15-20 days or more. The other way, is to fry the green chilly along with garlic and salt, and coarsely grind it. It is a wonderful alterantive to pickle.

5) I have tried a whole lot of tips to get soft idlis, like adding poha, or cooked rice, but never had the luck.. If you have a similar fate as mine with idlis, add a teaspooon full of baking powder to the batter, and then cook idlis........ They will be super soft. Well, i am very much against using baking powder, but this seems to be the only resort for me for softer idlis, rather than eating hard idlis unwillingly or throwing off the batter.

For now, these were my tips, lets make a conscious decision of stopping wastage of food......

Amateur cooks first hit: Baingan ka bharta

I admit, i am not a great cook, but i do cook edible food, which can be had without much of problems, or later sideeffects ;)
Once in a blue moon, i do hit the bull's eye...........The recipe for my tried and tested baingan ka bharta has been asked by a lot of office colleagues, and a dear personal friend of mine, so sharing it with my blog friends as well,,,,,,,,,

Baingan Ka Bharta:

Step1: Take one big baingan, the tip to identify good baingan is to buy one which is not too hard on the exterior, it has to be pulpy, if its not, that means it will have lot of seeds, which indirectly mean quite good amount of worms in it as well...Its a tip told to me by sabjiwali aunty.

Step2: Make 4 slits on the baingan, but the stem needs to be intact.
Put 4-5 garlic pods in those slits, and let the baingan fry on the stovetop(Yes you read it right, on the stove top, not on any vessel), until the burnt smell doesnt come, generally takes around 5mins, but i love it extremely burnt, so i let it there for more time. Once its burnt completely, let it cool, remove the skin from the baingan, and mash the pulp
Its the burnt flavor that gives richness to the dish.

Step3: Take one onion, chop it, and saute the onion, along with turmeric, salt, dhaniya-jeera powder, and chilly powder, add one chopped tomato, let it cook until oil separates.

Step 4: Now add 4 chopped green chillies, and the baingan pulp.......
Let it cook for a while, finally taste it, sure going to be great, and garnish it with coriander leaves.


The baingan ka bharta is a mess to cook at, cos it leaves your stovetop in a very bad shape, the final result is all worth it.......

And the cleaning of the stove, may help you losing the inches that you gained as well :P