At Anita’s…
She is celebrating the first birthday of her lovely, thought provoking blog, where she shares stories and recipes in a way that you never want the post to come to an end. And oh the gorgeous pictures! After every visit I am hungry…
Congratulations Anita! And wish you so many more…
Well you asked us to make Poori Bhaji for this occasion, and well how could I resist. It has been my mostest favouritest breakfast/brunch right since childhood. Batata Bhaji has always been a favourite and hot puffed up pooris to go with it on a lazy Sunday afternoon…Bliss!
Most satisfying meal...
Just last week I joined back the Gym to see if I can get back in shape after having my baby. But well so what, I can still have Poori Bhaji :)!
My new cook, made it yesterday, and honestly I had never had it better…She makes delicious stuff in such a short time, and works with whatever ingredients are around throwing in a bit of this and a bit of that. Making use of the pressure cooker, as I have never seen before. My 2 litre and 1.5 litre Hawkins have never been put to a better use before. She cooks all our daily veggies in it, super quick, very tasty, perfectly cooked and efficient of course!
I would just like to add here that when pressure cooking in the small cookers, cook good directly in the pan. Using containers does not give very good results. You can make the tadka, add the veggies and the masalas, stir fry to coat the veggies well and to cook the masalas a bit. Then add water, depending upon the veggie you are cooking and how much gravy you want. For stir fried type, very little, for gravy more. Believe me you can get perfectly cooked stir fried style subzi's using this method. And you know what, the veggies do taste a lot better, guess they retain their flavour more when cooked this way.I have learnt a whole knew meaning to pressure cooking because of her.
Well the bottom of the cooker does get a bit of a coating, especially for dry subzis, but we have a solution to that too.
Actually had never tried it before until recently. I had heard about using a piece of a lime/lemon to clean the cooker, but never knew that this tip is so damned good! Usually if using a large pressure cooker and stacking containers to cook food, you can add a quarter of a lime/lemon to the water at the bottom. When using a small pressure cooker for direct cooking in the pan, here is what you can do. Fill the cooker with water, try not to fill it with water more than the food level mark. And add just a quarter or two of a lime/lemon. Put on the stove on minimum heat. Heat it trhough till you get a couple of whistles.
That's it. When you open you will see a chakachak cooker!!
Hey! Sorry for this tip-a-tipi in between these celebrations, let's go on then :)...
Please note that I did not make this Poori Bhaji, nor was I anywhere near when it was being prepared so cannot be sure about the exact proportions :).
You would need :-
One big onion, 2 ripe tomatoes, some khada masala (I could taste some cinnamon, badi elaichi, lavang and black pepper in there), cumin and ginger – All ground together to a fine paste.
4-5 medium size potatoes peeled and cubed big.
Heat a pressure cooker, add oil.
Once heated, add the ground masala, and fry it till the oil separates, add turmeric, chilli powder, dhania jeera powder and salt.
Mix well, and add the potato cubes. Coat them well with the masala and add water to make a thin or thick gravy whichever you prefer. I think 1.5 cups should be sufficient for a thickish gravy. Again please adjust as necessary.
Put it on for 3-4 whistles on low heat. The cooking time I have noticed depends upon cooker to cooker, so will say you are the better judge of the cooking time :).
And for Pooris, check this. and this.
My cook added a big spoonful of suji when making the dough, said it makes it crispier.
The result! FANTASTIC! YUMMILICIOUS! Honestly the best Poori Bhaji ever and that too ready in flat 30 minutes, could have been even less.
Am sorry cannot post pictures as my camera is taking blank pictures! But the next time I make it I will surely update this space…
Thanks Anita for the Invitation :)
Friday, August 17, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Curd Rice
Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It has been a couple of months that I just could not post anything. Guests during the summers followed by n number of other things just kept me away from blogging, and then it was just laziness that took over :). And when I finally got around to it the screen on my camera seems to have given up, I can only take blank pictures! It seems it is a known problem with cannon and now will have to get around to ship my camera to the service center and get it done…
Also had not been cooking much lately.
I have had a kitchen help all the time, but I never trusted them with anything more than making the daily chapatis and a quick stir fried vegetable. I love to cook and just could not tolerate the messy way in which the food is usually handled by them. I just lose my appetite watching them just shoving things around, make a huge mess and walk away in 20 minutes flat sometimes!! But thankfully for me, my old cook could not adjust to my weird timings (as per her), and walked away one day. Might I say as had others due to some or the other reason, and we have a change every 3 months or so!! As per me managing domestic help is the most difficult task. I can manage a huge project but I give up on the domestic help. I really envy those who have had someone to help out for years and years.
But now, I found a new cook, who is a very good cook and takes pleasure in cooking, of course she has her own style and can manage the daily stuff pretty well on her own, and in her own way is quite innovative. It feels so good that our meal has been cooked with some thought and care and not just because someone thinks it is a task or rather a boring chore which has to be done with at the earliest! My mum always tells me, that if you put your heart and some love in the food you prepare, that will satisfy you and all the ones who eat it. Is that why we get tired of eating out so soon? And the same has been applicable to my cooking help as well, I would get fed up with their cooking in just a week or so. But this one, she IS good and am hoping it would last :).
So that has given me some breathing space and of course it gives me the time to spend with my baby after a ten hour working day!
Oh well, where was I? Yes, and that is one of the reasons that I have not been cooking much, laziness and as my basic needs were satisfied, I just did not or tried not to bother. Hubby dear has been happy too, because he always has this BIG question, that when we were out of India you would crib and look forward to all that house help that could be available back in India, and now when we are back you want to do everything because they do not do it the way you want them to do stuff. Confusing? Well, lets get onto some food then :).
My little cousin sister, can I even call her little now, she is married and her daughter celebrated her first birthday couple of months ago!! Well, she gave me this fantastic recipe last week. Could be probably one of the first recipes she gave me, and it was for curd rice. When she said curd rice, I was like yeah, go on, as if I do not know how to make it (and thinking well, I do make one of the best ones isn’t it! And that too telling your old sis how to make curd rice?) Well was I wrong then :)? When she narrated the recipe, I thought should give it a try, sounds good.
For some of you maybe this is the way curd rice is made, but for me have heard of making it this way for the first time.
I always have made curd rice this way –Cook the rice, cool it, add curd, and some milk, salt and sugar, leave it for some time for the flavours to mingle and add a ghee tadka with red chillies and curry leaves mainly. And most importantly curd rice had to be had cold, either at room temperature or then chilled for some time.
This recipe makes a fresh warm curd rice!
As instructed by my cousin –
1 Cup rice2 Cups water1 ½ - 2 Cups MilkCurds, as requiredSalt and sugar to taste
Tadka :-Curry leavesRye and JeeraRed chillies – I used 4Black peppercorns – I used 5
Start cooking the rice, with water and a little salt in a kadhai (Or you can use a largish pot).
Once the rice is cooked a little more than half way, add milk, and let the rice cook completely in milk. Once done, and all the milk is absorbed and the rice is creamy turn off the heat, and add curds to get it to the consistency you like. Add salt and sugar. Make a ghee tadka with rye, jeera, curry leaves, red chillies, urad dal (if you like) and black peppercorns (add them at the end just after turning off the heat. They added a nice smoky flavour). Pour the tadka on the curd rice, mix and serve. Yes immediately!
I found this recipe just so easy, and perfect for that Sunday night dinner, when what to cook is a big problem for me as I do not want to spend much time in the kitchen (as my cook has her day off on Sundays). And of course, very very delicious, who knew that a warm curd rice, can be so yum!
I am sorry, cannot post any pictures with this post, as my camera is not taking pictures! But will surely update it someday!!
It has been a couple of months that I just could not post anything. Guests during the summers followed by n number of other things just kept me away from blogging, and then it was just laziness that took over :). And when I finally got around to it the screen on my camera seems to have given up, I can only take blank pictures! It seems it is a known problem with cannon and now will have to get around to ship my camera to the service center and get it done…
Also had not been cooking much lately.
I have had a kitchen help all the time, but I never trusted them with anything more than making the daily chapatis and a quick stir fried vegetable. I love to cook and just could not tolerate the messy way in which the food is usually handled by them. I just lose my appetite watching them just shoving things around, make a huge mess and walk away in 20 minutes flat sometimes!! But thankfully for me, my old cook could not adjust to my weird timings (as per her), and walked away one day. Might I say as had others due to some or the other reason, and we have a change every 3 months or so!! As per me managing domestic help is the most difficult task. I can manage a huge project but I give up on the domestic help. I really envy those who have had someone to help out for years and years.
But now, I found a new cook, who is a very good cook and takes pleasure in cooking, of course she has her own style and can manage the daily stuff pretty well on her own, and in her own way is quite innovative. It feels so good that our meal has been cooked with some thought and care and not just because someone thinks it is a task or rather a boring chore which has to be done with at the earliest! My mum always tells me, that if you put your heart and some love in the food you prepare, that will satisfy you and all the ones who eat it. Is that why we get tired of eating out so soon? And the same has been applicable to my cooking help as well, I would get fed up with their cooking in just a week or so. But this one, she IS good and am hoping it would last :).
So that has given me some breathing space and of course it gives me the time to spend with my baby after a ten hour working day!
Oh well, where was I? Yes, and that is one of the reasons that I have not been cooking much, laziness and as my basic needs were satisfied, I just did not or tried not to bother. Hubby dear has been happy too, because he always has this BIG question, that when we were out of India you would crib and look forward to all that house help that could be available back in India, and now when we are back you want to do everything because they do not do it the way you want them to do stuff. Confusing? Well, lets get onto some food then :).
My little cousin sister, can I even call her little now, she is married and her daughter celebrated her first birthday couple of months ago!! Well, she gave me this fantastic recipe last week. Could be probably one of the first recipes she gave me, and it was for curd rice. When she said curd rice, I was like yeah, go on, as if I do not know how to make it (and thinking well, I do make one of the best ones isn’t it! And that too telling your old sis how to make curd rice?) Well was I wrong then :)? When she narrated the recipe, I thought should give it a try, sounds good.
For some of you maybe this is the way curd rice is made, but for me have heard of making it this way for the first time.
I always have made curd rice this way –Cook the rice, cool it, add curd, and some milk, salt and sugar, leave it for some time for the flavours to mingle and add a ghee tadka with red chillies and curry leaves mainly. And most importantly curd rice had to be had cold, either at room temperature or then chilled for some time.
This recipe makes a fresh warm curd rice!
As instructed by my cousin –
1 Cup rice2 Cups water1 ½ - 2 Cups MilkCurds, as requiredSalt and sugar to taste
Tadka :-Curry leavesRye and JeeraRed chillies – I used 4Black peppercorns – I used 5
Start cooking the rice, with water and a little salt in a kadhai (Or you can use a largish pot).
Once the rice is cooked a little more than half way, add milk, and let the rice cook completely in milk. Once done, and all the milk is absorbed and the rice is creamy turn off the heat, and add curds to get it to the consistency you like. Add salt and sugar. Make a ghee tadka with rye, jeera, curry leaves, red chillies, urad dal (if you like) and black peppercorns (add them at the end just after turning off the heat. They added a nice smoky flavour). Pour the tadka on the curd rice, mix and serve. Yes immediately!
I found this recipe just so easy, and perfect for that Sunday night dinner, when what to cook is a big problem for me as I do not want to spend much time in the kitchen (as my cook has her day off on Sundays). And of course, very very delicious, who knew that a warm curd rice, can be so yum!
I am sorry, cannot post any pictures with this post, as my camera is not taking pictures! But will surely update it someday!!
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Mango Sheera and more
After a long break am back today!
I missed out on the 'L' 'M' and 'N' of lovely Nupur's AtoZ of Indian Vegetables event, and had made my mind up to participate in this weekends 'O' celebration. But after racking my brains I just could not come up with anything good! I was really hoping that there would be a good recipe for the classic Gujrathi Undhiyo spelt with an 'O', but to no avail. So sadly am letting this letter go by too :(...
It is the peak of summer in India and yes the peak of the Mango season as well. The lovely delicious, juicy mangoes deck up Pune at this time, and of that the flavours of the Alphonso just would not let you go by without taking notice. I usually like to enjoy the flavours of this fruit in the form of 'Aamras', made by extracting the pulp of the mango, blending it with a milk (or just water) with a little sugar and a hint of salt. Yummy.........
The flavour of Mango goes well with many Indian desserts and drinks, of which there are so many. Today I would like to share with you a simple sweet made with mango pulp. I had never heard about it before I got married. It is a 'has to be made at least once in summer' kind of sweet in my husbands family and one of my husbands favourites. And it is 'Mango Sheera'! The usual sheera/halwa made with rawa/suji cooked with mango pulp. It is very delicious and has unique flavours. This was one of the first recipes my MIL shared with me.
This is how it goes...
1 cup of rawa (preferably the coarse variety)
1/2 cup pure ghee
1 cup sugar
1 cup mango pulp (you can blend it with some milk, or then leave it a bit lumpy which we prefer)
1. Fry the rawa with the ghee until slightly pink and until the aroma reaches another room.
2. Add the mango pulp mixing it in the rawa. Add milk to get a nice consistency(around half a cup should be sfficient). Close it with a lid and let cook for a minute or so. Keep checking on it to see that it is not sticking to the bottom, until the rawa it cooked.
3. Add the sugar, mix in well, close down and let the rawa become nice and fluffy. After you switch off the heat let it be in the pan with the lid on.
4. Serve once cool. You would not need any flavouring such as cardamom along with the mango flavours.
I had made it yesterday as it was chaturthi.
And today I got time to make a nice meal, which I would like to share with you all. I tried out another tasty recipe from The spice who loved me, the roasted chana dal chutney (Trupti had made it to accompany the idli she made). I made it to accompany our meal today. I replaced the green chillies with dried red chillies (as I did not have any green ones)and added some coriander.
On ETV Marathi there comes a 2:00 pm telecast every weekday, called Mejwani - Rangatdar recipes. You would find many maharashtrian women glued to their sets, after their lunchtime to watch this program, which I find very amusing. I had watched it a few times with my mother, MIL and my Aatya. The best part is that they all watch this show and then point out what exactly they were doing it wrong, or then comment like 'is that even a recipe?' It is always fun for me to watch this show. Their has never been a recipe which I thought was a must try. I dont know, I might have watched all the wrong episodes, but even then...
But last weekend when my MIL was visiting us, I got to see Sonali Kulkarni (The one from Dil chahta hai) making a bharli vange (stuffed eggplants). Honestly the way she was making it, it looked like that this girl CAN cook. I take pride in my bharli vange (a simple recipe evolved during my experimental years), and have received a lot of compliments over years. But this one, she was making did look so very different and mouthwatering. I knew that I just had to make it soon...And yesterday I got nice and cute little eggplants just right for stuffing.
This is how the recipe goes...
8-10 small eggplants
One medium onion cut in slivers
Golf ball size tamarind and same size jaggery
One spoon besan
For the stuffing :-
One meduim onion finely chopped
4-5 tablespoons fresh grated coconut
2 tablespoons gound peanuts
A handful of coriander finely cut
Turmeric, chilli powder, Dhania and Jeera powder, salt
To proceed :-
1. Mix the ingredients for stuffing, adjust the seasonings. Cut the eggplants, and fill them up with the stuffing.
2. In a pan, heat oil(be generous!), add the onion slivers and fry them till light golden. Take them out and keep aside.
3. In the same oil splutter some rye and jeera, adding a pinch of hing to it. Now place all the stuffed eggplants, nicely with the open side facing the oil. Cover and let it cook in the oil, checking time to time if they are sticking to the bottom.
4. Once the colour changes, add any remaining stuffing and the onion slivers, mix well and let cook further.
5. Squeeze out the tamarind pupl, and with a cup of water add to the eggplants to cook them nicely to a tenderness as per your liking(I like them nice and soft). Do add water as and when required.
6. Add the jaggery, check and adjust salt. Mix the besan in a little water and mix it in. It helps bind the gravy really well. A variaton in my own bharli vange recipe is that I roast a little chana dal and owder it, and add it in. That too binds the gravy well and bring out a different taste. Once the besan cooks in, which should not take more than a minute or so, turn off the heat.
The results, just amazing!!
Also made another spicy companion, a cruncy carrot pickle, another of my MIL's recipes.
You can knock it up real quick.
You need:
A cup of carrot Juliennes.
A spoon of red chilli powder
Salt to taste (For pickes you usually need slightly more salt)
1/2 spoon of rye and 1/2 spoon of jeera, dry roasted and powdered
Juice of two medium size lemons (or enough juice to coat all the carrots)
Proceed by:-
1. Add all ingredients(apart from the menon juice) to the carrots in a shallow bowl, and mix well. 2. Keep aside for 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime heat 2 tablespoons of oil, once heated add rye, and as it splutters, turn off the heat. Now add a quarter sppon of hing and let it cool.
4. Now mix all the lemon juice and the oil to cover the carrots. Leave it in the refrigerator, and the flavours come together nicely in a days time. Will stay good in the regrigerator for a week or so.
I missed out on the 'L' 'M' and 'N' of lovely Nupur's AtoZ of Indian Vegetables event, and had made my mind up to participate in this weekends 'O' celebration. But after racking my brains I just could not come up with anything good! I was really hoping that there would be a good recipe for the classic Gujrathi Undhiyo spelt with an 'O', but to no avail. So sadly am letting this letter go by too :(...
It is the peak of summer in India and yes the peak of the Mango season as well. The lovely delicious, juicy mangoes deck up Pune at this time, and of that the flavours of the Alphonso just would not let you go by without taking notice. I usually like to enjoy the flavours of this fruit in the form of 'Aamras', made by extracting the pulp of the mango, blending it with a milk (or just water) with a little sugar and a hint of salt. Yummy.........
The flavour of Mango goes well with many Indian desserts and drinks, of which there are so many. Today I would like to share with you a simple sweet made with mango pulp. I had never heard about it before I got married. It is a 'has to be made at least once in summer' kind of sweet in my husbands family and one of my husbands favourites. And it is 'Mango Sheera'! The usual sheera/halwa made with rawa/suji cooked with mango pulp. It is very delicious and has unique flavours. This was one of the first recipes my MIL shared with me.
This is how it goes...
1 cup of rawa (preferably the coarse variety)
1/2 cup pure ghee
1 cup sugar
1 cup mango pulp (you can blend it with some milk, or then leave it a bit lumpy which we prefer)
1. Fry the rawa with the ghee until slightly pink and until the aroma reaches another room.
2. Add the mango pulp mixing it in the rawa. Add milk to get a nice consistency(around half a cup should be sfficient). Close it with a lid and let cook for a minute or so. Keep checking on it to see that it is not sticking to the bottom, until the rawa it cooked.
3. Add the sugar, mix in well, close down and let the rawa become nice and fluffy. After you switch off the heat let it be in the pan with the lid on.
4. Serve once cool. You would not need any flavouring such as cardamom along with the mango flavours.
I had made it yesterday as it was chaturthi.
And today I got time to make a nice meal, which I would like to share with you all. I tried out another tasty recipe from The spice who loved me, the roasted chana dal chutney (Trupti had made it to accompany the idli she made). I made it to accompany our meal today. I replaced the green chillies with dried red chillies (as I did not have any green ones)and added some coriander.
On ETV Marathi there comes a 2:00 pm telecast every weekday, called Mejwani - Rangatdar recipes. You would find many maharashtrian women glued to their sets, after their lunchtime to watch this program, which I find very amusing. I had watched it a few times with my mother, MIL and my Aatya. The best part is that they all watch this show and then point out what exactly they were doing it wrong, or then comment like 'is that even a recipe?' It is always fun for me to watch this show. Their has never been a recipe which I thought was a must try. I dont know, I might have watched all the wrong episodes, but even then...
But last weekend when my MIL was visiting us, I got to see Sonali Kulkarni (The one from Dil chahta hai) making a bharli vange (stuffed eggplants). Honestly the way she was making it, it looked like that this girl CAN cook. I take pride in my bharli vange (a simple recipe evolved during my experimental years), and have received a lot of compliments over years. But this one, she was making did look so very different and mouthwatering. I knew that I just had to make it soon...And yesterday I got nice and cute little eggplants just right for stuffing.
This is how the recipe goes...
8-10 small eggplants
One medium onion cut in slivers
Golf ball size tamarind and same size jaggery
One spoon besan
For the stuffing :-
One meduim onion finely chopped
4-5 tablespoons fresh grated coconut
2 tablespoons gound peanuts
A handful of coriander finely cut
Turmeric, chilli powder, Dhania and Jeera powder, salt
To proceed :-
1. Mix the ingredients for stuffing, adjust the seasonings. Cut the eggplants, and fill them up with the stuffing.
2. In a pan, heat oil(be generous!), add the onion slivers and fry them till light golden. Take them out and keep aside.
3. In the same oil splutter some rye and jeera, adding a pinch of hing to it. Now place all the stuffed eggplants, nicely with the open side facing the oil. Cover and let it cook in the oil, checking time to time if they are sticking to the bottom.
4. Once the colour changes, add any remaining stuffing and the onion slivers, mix well and let cook further.
5. Squeeze out the tamarind pupl, and with a cup of water add to the eggplants to cook them nicely to a tenderness as per your liking(I like them nice and soft). Do add water as and when required.
6. Add the jaggery, check and adjust salt. Mix the besan in a little water and mix it in. It helps bind the gravy really well. A variaton in my own bharli vange recipe is that I roast a little chana dal and owder it, and add it in. That too binds the gravy well and bring out a different taste. Once the besan cooks in, which should not take more than a minute or so, turn off the heat.
The results, just amazing!!
Also made another spicy companion, a cruncy carrot pickle, another of my MIL's recipes.
You can knock it up real quick.
You need:
A cup of carrot Juliennes.
A spoon of red chilli powder
Salt to taste (For pickes you usually need slightly more salt)
1/2 spoon of rye and 1/2 spoon of jeera, dry roasted and powdered
Juice of two medium size lemons (or enough juice to coat all the carrots)
Proceed by:-
1. Add all ingredients(apart from the menon juice) to the carrots in a shallow bowl, and mix well. 2. Keep aside for 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime heat 2 tablespoons of oil, once heated add rye, and as it splutters, turn off the heat. Now add a quarter sppon of hing and let it cool.
4. Now mix all the lemon juice and the oil to cover the carrots. Leave it in the refrigerator, and the flavours come together nicely in a days time. Will stay good in the regrigerator for a week or so.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Lambe break ke baad...
When I created this blog about just more than a month ago, I knew that I would not be able to be a regular here. From the last two weeks have just not managed to even log in here, what with my baby sufferring from a stomach infection and has started teething too. He seems to be feeling somewhat better now, and me too of course! It is just so difficult to see these little ones going through their not too well times...
All this while I was trying to keep in touch with some of my favourite blogs though...And tried out some recipes which just turned out super...
I was wanting to try out the tamatar Soya wadi kadhi by Musical ever since I saw it. It turned out great!
And tried out the Chana bateta curry and Gujrathi Dal from The spice who loved me. And believe me they turned out just amazing! Lovely flavours very different to what I would have made. I followed the recipes exactly with great results! Am looking forward to try out more recipes from this wonderful blog.
And another great find was the Mumbai Pau Bhaji shared by Nupur and need I say it was just super!
Thanks to all of you for sharing such wonderful recipes :)!!
Am hoping to be back with some recipes by this weekend. I have been wanting to do up the visuals of this little space of mine from so long...But I guess I will just post my recipes for the moment, I hope you all wont mind visiting this somewhat undecorated and bare space till then :).
All this while I was trying to keep in touch with some of my favourite blogs though...And tried out some recipes which just turned out super...
I was wanting to try out the tamatar Soya wadi kadhi by Musical ever since I saw it. It turned out great!
And tried out the Chana bateta curry and Gujrathi Dal from The spice who loved me. And believe me they turned out just amazing! Lovely flavours very different to what I would have made. I followed the recipes exactly with great results! Am looking forward to try out more recipes from this wonderful blog.
And another great find was the Mumbai Pau Bhaji shared by Nupur and need I say it was just super!
Thanks to all of you for sharing such wonderful recipes :)!!
Am hoping to be back with some recipes by this weekend. I have been wanting to do up the visuals of this little space of mine from so long...But I guess I will just post my recipes for the moment, I hope you all wont mind visiting this somewhat undecorated and bare space till then :).
Monday, April 9, 2007
Disaster Trifle
Over the long weekend I had nearly everything needed to make a trifle on hand…Apart from time that is :).
Friday passed and so did Saturday, but just did not get around to make that…So finally on Sunday, (the last day before it is hectic week start time), most of the chores were done, hubby well fed, baby too fed(with a lot of singing and dancing to entertain him, with all the time my eyes on the food level in the bowl), it was nearly 40 degrees Celsius outside(I know and it is just the beginning of summer!!), and I thought what better than make the most of this quiet time and prepare the trifle, take a quick nap myself, and wake up to dig into this gorgeous dessert I so love.
I cut up an apple and a banana and a couple of strawberries. Crushed up a couple of Parle G biscuits(to replace the sponges usually used for trifles). Took out the custard and jelly powders. So what remained was dissolving these powders in milk and water respectively, assemble the trifle and get it to set while I nap. So while the milk boiled, the water was ready for the jelly, in went the mix straight from the packet and it was ready. Now the custard…I usually prefer making it straight from the packets(like Brown and Polson or Smith and Jones) as I just have never managed to make a proper eggy custard till date. As the packet instructed, I got some powder in a bowl and mixed it with some milk to make a paste. I did that - now that was to be added back to the boiled milk to cook some more. I did that - but don’t know why, this time it did not dissolve back in the milk properly and I had a nice and lumpy custard with me and no amount of stirring or beating with the spoon made a difference!!
So me, just wanting to go and take a nap, before my son gets up, took it to the blender, poured it all in, and turned the knob. Any guesses what happened??
Well, the liquid just burst out of the blender, and in the blink of an eye was all over the countertop soaking the microwave next to it to all the other stuff lying around, leaving a nice mess on the wall behind and the floor below too. And did I mention, I had put it in straight from the stove? So apart from cleaning the whole mess, I was left with scalded hands too!!
Finally, with the leftover custard managed to make these two small trifle pots!!
And no need to mention I guess that by the time, this adventure was done with, my baby was up and ready for playtime :)…
The custard came out all runny and seeped in under the jelly to the fruits below. But all in all the taste was as good as ever. Never will I think again that making a trifle is so easy :)!!
Friday passed and so did Saturday, but just did not get around to make that…So finally on Sunday, (the last day before it is hectic week start time), most of the chores were done, hubby well fed, baby too fed(with a lot of singing and dancing to entertain him, with all the time my eyes on the food level in the bowl), it was nearly 40 degrees Celsius outside(I know and it is just the beginning of summer!!), and I thought what better than make the most of this quiet time and prepare the trifle, take a quick nap myself, and wake up to dig into this gorgeous dessert I so love.
I cut up an apple and a banana and a couple of strawberries. Crushed up a couple of Parle G biscuits(to replace the sponges usually used for trifles). Took out the custard and jelly powders. So what remained was dissolving these powders in milk and water respectively, assemble the trifle and get it to set while I nap. So while the milk boiled, the water was ready for the jelly, in went the mix straight from the packet and it was ready. Now the custard…I usually prefer making it straight from the packets(like Brown and Polson or Smith and Jones) as I just have never managed to make a proper eggy custard till date. As the packet instructed, I got some powder in a bowl and mixed it with some milk to make a paste. I did that - now that was to be added back to the boiled milk to cook some more. I did that - but don’t know why, this time it did not dissolve back in the milk properly and I had a nice and lumpy custard with me and no amount of stirring or beating with the spoon made a difference!!
So me, just wanting to go and take a nap, before my son gets up, took it to the blender, poured it all in, and turned the knob. Any guesses what happened??
Well, the liquid just burst out of the blender, and in the blink of an eye was all over the countertop soaking the microwave next to it to all the other stuff lying around, leaving a nice mess on the wall behind and the floor below too. And did I mention, I had put it in straight from the stove? So apart from cleaning the whole mess, I was left with scalded hands too!!
Finally, with the leftover custard managed to make these two small trifle pots!!
And no need to mention I guess that by the time, this adventure was done with, my baby was up and ready for playtime :)…
The custard came out all runny and seeped in under the jelly to the fruits below. But all in all the taste was as good as ever. Never will I think again that making a trifle is so easy :)!!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Disco Bhaji
I was not much of a cook when I got married. And when on a weekend the weather was just apt to have garma garam bhajias, I promptly went in to the kitchen, and presented my hubby dear with a plate of hot kanda (onion) bhajias. He goes, but I like disco bhajis!! And I was like, what??!! Have I heard him right? Is he pulling a fast one on me? I never had heard anything like disco bhajias before.
But yes they do exist, where?...In Solapur, a town in Maharashtra. And they taste, well! Fantastic!! And of course, I did learn how to make them from my dear husband.
It seems that a famous Park in Solapur, near Park Stadium, has lots of vendors selling right from chaat to Paav bhaji, to ice creams…This is called the Park Chowpatty. And amongst these vendors, is a stall which has the usual batata wada and other fried items. And here you get these very famous in Solapur, Disco bhajias, made with green chillies.
The disco is nothing but a mirchi bhajia one would make, slit lengthwise after being fried. And refried again to make it really crisp. Does not sound very healthy, but tasty? It of course is.
We have extended the recipe to kanda bhajias(Onion Bhajias), and here it is…
You need:
The usual list of ingredients to make bhajias…
Onions – Cut lengthwise or cut fine, as you prefer
For making these with Green Chillies (Take as many bhajias you would want to make) – Do not cut or remove the stalks. Do not use the fine small green chillies, use the puffy variety which usually is used for making bhajias or then stuffed chillies.
Besan as much required to coat the onions and make a nice batter with it. (I have used here one medium onion cut lengthwise and 3/4 cup of besan)
jeera, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, hing, salt as per taste
A handful of coriander finely cut
Oil for frying
To proceed:
1. To the onions add some besan, just enough to coat them all. Add all the spices. Mix well. Now add about two spoons of besan and mix well. Add water to make a thick sort of batter. Taste and change the seasoning if required. Add some fruit salt to it(like ENO). Keep it aside covered for about 10 minutes.
2. Heat oil, and make big size bhajias from the above batter. Don’t fry them to a very dark color(as they are going in the oil again, does not matter if they are not fully cooked inside as well). Keep aside to drain off the excess oil.
3. Now cut these into bit sized pieces (any size is okay really), and fry them to a golden color.
For making the bhajias with the chillies. Just dip them whole in the thick batter(made in a similar way as above but minus the onions), and fry them similar to the kanda bhajias. Once drained, cut them lengthwise in the middle and fry to a golden color.
I am serving these with ketchup. But serve them with the dry peanut chutney. Tastes great with the Solapuri peanut chutney on the side, which is made with hand pounded groundnuts and lots of garlic and fiery in color and taste. That is the way it is served at park Chowpatty.
But yes they do exist, where?...In Solapur, a town in Maharashtra. And they taste, well! Fantastic!! And of course, I did learn how to make them from my dear husband.
It seems that a famous Park in Solapur, near Park Stadium, has lots of vendors selling right from chaat to Paav bhaji, to ice creams…This is called the Park Chowpatty. And amongst these vendors, is a stall which has the usual batata wada and other fried items. And here you get these very famous in Solapur, Disco bhajias, made with green chillies.
The disco is nothing but a mirchi bhajia one would make, slit lengthwise after being fried. And refried again to make it really crisp. Does not sound very healthy, but tasty? It of course is.
We have extended the recipe to kanda bhajias(Onion Bhajias), and here it is…
You need:
The usual list of ingredients to make bhajias…
Onions – Cut lengthwise or cut fine, as you prefer
For making these with Green Chillies (Take as many bhajias you would want to make) – Do not cut or remove the stalks. Do not use the fine small green chillies, use the puffy variety which usually is used for making bhajias or then stuffed chillies.
Besan as much required to coat the onions and make a nice batter with it. (I have used here one medium onion cut lengthwise and 3/4 cup of besan)
jeera, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, hing, salt as per taste
A handful of coriander finely cut
Oil for frying
To proceed:
1. To the onions add some besan, just enough to coat them all. Add all the spices. Mix well. Now add about two spoons of besan and mix well. Add water to make a thick sort of batter. Taste and change the seasoning if required. Add some fruit salt to it(like ENO). Keep it aside covered for about 10 minutes.
2. Heat oil, and make big size bhajias from the above batter. Don’t fry them to a very dark color(as they are going in the oil again, does not matter if they are not fully cooked inside as well). Keep aside to drain off the excess oil.
3. Now cut these into bit sized pieces (any size is okay really), and fry them to a golden color.
For making the bhajias with the chillies. Just dip them whole in the thick batter(made in a similar way as above but minus the onions), and fry them similar to the kanda bhajias. Once drained, cut them lengthwise in the middle and fry to a golden color.
I am serving these with ketchup. But serve them with the dry peanut chutney. Tastes great with the Solapuri peanut chutney on the side, which is made with hand pounded groundnuts and lots of garlic and fiery in color and taste. That is the way it is served at park Chowpatty.
Kadhi Gole
I was so tempted to make something with the lovely kairis (Raw green mangoes) available around in Pune these days for the ‘K of Nupurs A to Z of Indian Vegetables’. But then I had already made Kanda Kairichi Chutney and Sakhubadda earlier with them. A Kairi bhath maybe. I love this recipe, which is very simple and in minutes you will have a yummy preparation. We make Kairi bhath as a part of a complete maharashtrian meal, mostly on festivals, or then to carry during traveling or out for picnics. To cooked and cooled rice, add grated kairi, and salt to taste. Heat oil, and add peanuts to it. Once the peanuts are fried, take them out with a slotted spoon and add to the rice. In the remaining oil, make a tempering adding, mustard seeds, jeera, pinch of hing, curry leaves, Urad dal and dried red chillies. Switch off the gas and add quarter spoon of turmeric for color to the tempering and half a spoon of chilli powder, and immediately turn into the rice. Mix well. This tastes better cold (That is at room temperature).
Another K dish is the ever welcoming Kadhi, made in so many ways all across India. I loved the tamatar soya wadi ki Kadhi made by Musical, and am going to try it out very soon, it just is so tempting. I also was wanting to make the kadhi gole (Chana dal dumplings in kadhi), a typical maharashtrian preparation for quite some time now. I used to immensely like this as a child and till date. My friends mum used to make awesome kadhi gole, and I was always invited or then a bowl of kadhi gole was sent to our house whenever it was prepared. For some reason my mother never used to make them earlier. And when I left this place for studies and work, I had nearly forgotten this beloved dish. But a couple of years ago, when I visited my mother had made the greatest tasting kadhi gole, and I was like when did you start making them Mama? I learnt this under her supervision when she came over to see me in Pune later, and am hoping to repeat the results :) and incorporate veggies too for Nupur…
Okay here you go, you need :
1 Cup chana dal, Soaked for about 4 to 5 hours.
4 to 5 cups of buttermilk, preferably sour.
Green chillies 2
Coriander a handful
Garlic 8-10 cloves
Hing
Salt and sugar(just a little) to taste
Besan, one spoon
Oil, rye, jeera and dried red chillies for tempering
The veggie touch:
Take two drumsticks, peel off the hard layers and cut them into finger size pieces. Boil them till they are tender. A variation you can have is blanched spinach could be ground together with the chana dal.
To proceed :
1. Grind the chana dal to a fine paste together with the green chillies, ginger, garlic and coriander. Add as little water as possible. More water and it is ruined entirely.
2. Add salt to the chana dal paste, check for taste and adjust if required.
Another K dish is the ever welcoming Kadhi, made in so many ways all across India. I loved the tamatar soya wadi ki Kadhi made by Musical, and am going to try it out very soon, it just is so tempting. I also was wanting to make the kadhi gole (Chana dal dumplings in kadhi), a typical maharashtrian preparation for quite some time now. I used to immensely like this as a child and till date. My friends mum used to make awesome kadhi gole, and I was always invited or then a bowl of kadhi gole was sent to our house whenever it was prepared. For some reason my mother never used to make them earlier. And when I left this place for studies and work, I had nearly forgotten this beloved dish. But a couple of years ago, when I visited my mother had made the greatest tasting kadhi gole, and I was like when did you start making them Mama? I learnt this under her supervision when she came over to see me in Pune later, and am hoping to repeat the results :) and incorporate veggies too for Nupur…
Okay here you go, you need :
1 Cup chana dal, Soaked for about 4 to 5 hours.
4 to 5 cups of buttermilk, preferably sour.
Green chillies 2
Coriander a handful
Garlic 8-10 cloves
Hing
Salt and sugar(just a little) to taste
Besan, one spoon
Oil, rye, jeera and dried red chillies for tempering
The veggie touch:
Take two drumsticks, peel off the hard layers and cut them into finger size pieces. Boil them till they are tender. A variation you can have is blanched spinach could be ground together with the chana dal.
To proceed :
1. Grind the chana dal to a fine paste together with the green chillies, ginger, garlic and coriander. Add as little water as possible. More water and it is ruined entirely.
2. Add salt to the chana dal paste, check for taste and adjust if required.
3. Mix the spoonful of besan with the buttermilk, add salt and sugar to taste.
4. In a kadhai or a deep pot, heat some oil. Add rye and jeera. And quickly followed by the buttermilk mix ready.
5. Let it come to a nice boil.
6. Now make rounded balls of the chana dal mixture with your hands and pop into the boiling kadhi. Make sure that they stay firm once dropped in and not melt into the kadhi. Drop them in one by one until the chana dal is all used up. One by one all these gole of chana dal will come rising up to the top of the kadhi. Means they are cooked now. Bring down the heat a little and add the tender drumstick pieces. Boil for a few minutes more(around 8-10 minutes).
This should be served hot. When ready to serve, make a tadka adding to it the hing and red chillies together with some more rye and jeera, and add it to sizzle through the kadhi gole. (I do not have those pictures as the batteries to my camera gave up by then, and this one does not really do all the justice to the looks and the taste).
Serve hot with Rice or chapattis. This Kadhi tastes all the more better the next day with the gole having soaked up all the delicious kadhi.
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