Baingan Ka Bharta with Sorry Tale of my Life...

Baingan Ka Bharta

One month after our wedding…
Dial 009108£$%^&*!”
~Trinnnnn, trin…. Trinnnnn, trin~ (oh, that’s old dial mode-walah telephone ringing)

Amma: Helloooo…
Me: Amma… ~sob, sob~
Amma: ~Little worried~ What happened dear-first-born-and-at-last-married-and-gone?
Me: Amma, I want to come back to India.
Amma: Err… Why? Where is apple-of-my-eyes-son-in-law?
Me: He is in his office and I am all alone. I am bored here. I want to come back.
Amma: Oh! That’s all? Read books. I will send you few more novels by your favourite writers as soon as possible along with another jar of your favourite Mavina kai midi pickle.
Me: No, I want to come home! To my own house, my room, my books and my things. Don’t you miss me at all?
Amma: ~Clears her throat~ Well, not that much. You see now we have Bubbly with us now and she keeps me on my toes 24/7. She has shifted to your room and she likes to sleep under your bed. And naughty girl that she is, other day she climbed your bed and hid under your favourite blanket.
Me: What? How could you let her sleep in my room?
Amma: She loves your room as it is spacious and clean unlike your brother and sisters. And as it has got that large balcony looking at the street, Bubbly likes to sit in your swing and practice her singing. She is very talented singer you know. Such a small baby girl, yet so smart and talented.
Me: ~trying hard to disguise the pain~ But Amma, you sure must miss talking to me.
Amma: Actually, I am so busy knitting new blanket for my baby girl that I hardly get time to miss you. She is a great company and follows me everywhere I go. Poor child, other night she woke us up at middle of the night. She was crying and wailing in her sleep. She must be missing her mommy. So we decided to let her take your room. And anyways, you won’t be coming for one full year. Well, I got to go now. It’s dinner time for Bubbly. She must be hungry by now. Don’t know where your dad is. I asked him to get a bottle of calcium tablets along with shampoo for Bubbly from medical shop. Oh, I must remind him to get that new food pack of food for her. You know Dentasticks or something like that which keep their teeth and gums healthy. Yeah, Pedigree one… Good night Sia. Give my love to Alimayya. Will talk to you some other time.
Me: ~Stares at the phone with puzzled and confused and $%^& look~

That is how I have been disowned by my own parents. The day I stepped into an international flight with tears in my eyes and pain of separation from my dear and near ones, my parents and this-janam-ka-dushmans a.k.a. my brother and sister, they steered their car to my cousin’s house to pick new member of the family, 5 weeks old Bubbly. When it comes to breed, Bubbly is doubly(?!) pure breed. Well, she is a cross breed of Dachshund mother and Pomeranian father and has thus inherited her mother’s body and her father’s ears and nose ;)

That auspicious Friday (auspicious because I decided to not just leave my parents home but also my country as my siblings keep reminding me) morning 5 weeks old white with block spots roly-poly came to our home with band and banners!!! Every dog has a day and this dog, oopsy Bubbly, sure has many days! I am not only disowned and replaced by a dog at home but I am forced to talk to her every time I call home. So the conversation between me my mother goes like this…

Call 1:
Me: Hi Amma… What’s up?
Amma: Bubbly won’t let me give her bath. I bought this new shampoo for her because the last one didn’t smell good! But now I can’t find her. She is hiding somewhere! I don’t know how she finds out that I am going to give her a bath!
Me: Err…

Call 2:
Me: Hi Amma… How are you?
Amma: Oh what can I say? Trust me, I didn’t worry so much when you were teenagers. It’s becoming difficult to manage the ever growing list of Bubbly’s admirers coming to meet her. You know our neighbour’s Tommy right? The very same dangerous Alsatian who barks non-stop? What a shameless dog!!! He jumped our 6 feet high compound wall other night. Thank god, Bubbly was sleeping inside that night!
Me: ~thud, thud, thud~ Censored~

Call 3:
Me: Hi Amma…
Amma: wait, Bubbly wants to talk to you. I will hold the receiver near her ears and you talk to her…
Me: But Amma…
Amma: Shhh… She is listening. Talk to her…
Me: Err… Bubbly… err… How are you?
Bubbly: Bow…wow…. Grrrrr… (Translates: Don’t you dare to come back. It’s my home now!)
Amma: Choo chweet. She knows that its you calling.
Me: Whatever…

And this week’s call:
Me: Hi Amma… How are you?
Amma: ~sob, sob~ Hello…
Me: What happened?
Amma: I don’t know what to say? ~sob, sobs~
Me: Amma, please tell me what happened?
Amma: Our Bubbly is pregnant. We don’t know who the father is…
Me: ~Thud, thud, thud~

So our dear, heartthrob of every male dog in our street/neighbourhood/city, Bubbly is turning 3 year old this week and also heavily pregnant with her first child. While my mom is taking good care of her first grandchild’s arrival I celebrated it with Baingan Ka Bharta. Please pray that all goes well with my sistahhhhh…. Mu ha ha ha…

Baingan Ka Bharta is hot favourite of mine when it comes to Aubergine/Eggplant dish. Wonder why it took this long for me to post this recipe. My Amma makes the best Baingan Ka Bharta back home where she roasts the eggplants on direct burning charcoal which gives it a very heady and smoky flavour. Here I grill it in my ancient gas grill and sometimes cook it in oven. Although the end dish is not as flavourful as the one roasted on charcoal it always gets thumbs up when I cook it for my friends. Like many other Indian foods, Baingan Ka Bharta also has zillions of recipes from different kitchens across the India. So here is one of those zillions of recipes for Baingan Ka Bharta.

Baingan Ka Bharta

Print This Recipe

---

Baingan Bharta (Smoky and Spicy Mashed Eggplants)
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: 30-35 mins
Serves: 3-4

---

Ingredients:
1 large purple Eggplant
1 large Onion, finely chopped
2 large Tomatoes, finely chopped
2-3 Green Chillies, finely chopped (Adjust acc to taste)
½ inch Ginger, finely chopped
4-5 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Roasted Cumin & Coriander Powder
½-1 tsp Garam Masala (Adjust acc to taste)
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust acc to taste)
½ tsp Aamchur/Dry Mango Powder
½ tbsp Oil+ ½ tbsp Ghee or 1 tbsp Oil or Ghee
2-3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Baingan Ka Bharta

Method:

Prick the surface of eggplant with knife or fork which will help in even roasting of eggplants. Heat oven or grill and broil or grill the eggplant till its surface is wilted/charred and cooked, about 15-20 mins depending on the type of oven/grill you use. Or you can roast the eggplant on direct flame, on medium heat turning it around, till its surface is charred and the whole egg plant is cooked. This gives a lovely smoky flavour to the egg plant.
Place this grilled eggplant in a large bowl and cover it with a lid or cling film. Let the eggplant cool completely and sweat. Once cooled, peel the charred skin, stem and discard. Mash the cooked eggplant with a potato masher or by hand and keep it aside.
Heat oil and ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds. When it sizzles, add finely chopped garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Now add finely chopped ginger and green chillies and sauté it for another 30 seconds on medium flame. Mix in finely chopped onion and sauté it on medium flame for 1-2 mins till it turns light golden brown in colour.
Now add garam masala, red chilli powder and cumin-coriander powder and sauté it for 30 seconds. Mix in finely chopped tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes on the medium flame till it releases its juice and turns pulpy.
Add mashed eggplant, dry mango powder and salt to taste and combine well. Let it cook on medium flame for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, till the whole mixture becomes little dry. This gives the second layer of smoky flavour to the eggplants.
Serve hot garnished with finely chopped coriander leaves and chopped red onion with any Indian flat bread or Rice and enjoy.

---

Note:
To get smoky flavour to the eggplant, place mashed eggplant in a wide plate and place a small steel bowl in a centre. Then place few pieces of burning coal in the bowl and pour 1 tsp of oil or ghee on it. Cover the plate with wide lid and let it rest for 2-3 mins. This is the simplest way to get smoky flavour to your Bharta.
Insert 3-4 small garlic cloves in the eggplant by making small slit and roast it on the oven or on gas fire. The garlic inserted will get roasted along with the eggplant and gives it wonderful aroma and flavour.

Continue Reading...

Maa Di Dal: Mother of All Dals

Maa Di Dal

Last weekend I grudgingly removed my long jackets along with matching gloves and scarves. The sun still shining on clear blue sky made me almost believe that it’s still summer. But ten steps away from home and I started shivering like a dry leaves about to fall from the maple tree around the corner. Winter is almost here…

Gone are the days of my sexy sandals and sleeveless summer dresses and I look like a stuffed teddy bear sporting long jackets, long boots and woollen scarf. There is still little greenery and colours around me which seems to be quickly fading away leaving naked tree branches against grey sky. Our BBQ kit is snugly sitting in our garden shed along with lawn mower. I am getting up to dark skies every morning and bowl of my favourite cereal with cold milk is not much appealing these days. Driving to office with headlights on is not helping either. Thankfully we are still away from the days of scrapping the thick coat of ice from car windows. But nevertheless winter is almost here…

Two things always cheer me during winters- shopping and food, in no particular order. In spite of gloomy global market slowdown, my winter shopping is going at full fledge. This winter I am adding more colours to my wardrobe and I am happily trotting around wearing my new crimson red long jacket. Yup, colour of love and passion is what I am wearing among all that black and greys. I can’t help but feel like a queen when I tread upon the carpets of gold and crimson, brown and bronze coloured leaves… Silly? Well, I am happy to be silly then…

And coming to food, do I need to say anything about the way it cheers me? Lot of hot and comfort foods are churned every day in my tiny kitchen. I don’t need any central heating when I stand near a gas stove, stirring a pot of hot soup or curries and let the steam and aromas coming from them tickle my nose. Everyday meal turns out be special, not because they contain rich and special ingredients, but because of the experience of sharing it with someone you love. Yes, winter is almost here and now I am loving every moment of it…

To celebrate the true spirit of winter, I cooked a special dish called Maa Ki Dal from Raghavan’s 660 Curries. Maa Ki Dal is probably the mother of all Dals. And this is nothing like a simple dal I make so often to go with rice and pickle, my comfort food. This Punjabi dish is very rich and bit fattening with all that cream and ghee that goes into making this simply superb creamy dream. This lentil recipe uses very few spices and they don’t over power the nutty taste of whole urad dal, channa dal or rajma. Don’t be afraid to use all that cream and ghee as it is ‘once in a while indulgence’ kind of food. Served with freshly made batch of hot Phulkas, it was simply divine. And how can resist from sending this mother of all dals to witty Sra of When My Soup Came Alive as she is guest hosting this month's My Legume Love Affair, a lovely event started by lovely lady Susan. Sorry girl for bombarding your mailbox with my entries but this recipe has to waltz around for MLLA :) This is also my entry for dear Sunshinemom's FIC-Brown.

Whole Urad Dal, Channa Dal and Rajma

Print This Recipe

---

Maa Di Dal (Slow cooked Lentils in Creamy Gravy)

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 40-80 mins
Serves: 6-8
Recipe Source: 660 Curries

---

Ingredients:
1 cup Whole Urad Dal/Black Lentils
½ cup Channa Dal/Split Chickpeas
½ cup Rajma/Red Kidney Beans, cooked and roughly mashed or 1 cup Cooked/Canned Rajma
2 Bay Leaves
2 pieces of 2 inch Cinnamon Sticks
4 Green Cardamoms or 2 Black Cardamoms
½ - 1 tsp Kashmiri/Deggi Chilli Powder or Paprika
½ tsp Turmeric Powder (Optional)
1 large Onion, finely chopped
4 large Tomatoes, very finely chopped or pureed
1 tbsp Tomato Paste (Optional)
¼ - ½ cup Fresh Cream (I used ¼ cup single cream)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida (Optional but I recommend)
2 tbsp Fresh Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
1-2 tbsp Ghee/Oil
Salt to taste

Grind to Paste:
2-4 Green Chillies
1 inch Ginger
4-5 large or 6-7 medium Garlic flakes

Maa Di Dal

Method:

Wash urad dal and channa dal 3-4 times in water till all the impurities are removed. Place it in a heavy bottomed pan or pressure cooker and add about 4-5 cups of water and bring it to boil. Skim the foam formed on surface.
Now add the ground paste of chilli-ginger-garlic, bay leaves, cardamoms, cinnamon stick, and turmeric powder. Cover the lid and let it cook for 60 minutes, stirring in between, till the lentils falls apart. If using pressure cooker cook for 20-25 minutes or 4-5 whistles. Let the pressure be released before you open the pressure cooker lid.
Heat ghee/oil in a pan and add jeera and hing. When jeera starts to sizzle and turn golden red shade, add finely chopped onion and sauté till it turns golden brown, about 2-3 mins. Add finely chopped tomatoes or pureed tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes in medium flame till the oil separates from the mixture.
To this add chilli powder, salt to taste, cooked lentils and mashed red kidney beans. Add about a cup of water to the pan in which lentils are cooked to deglaze it and mix this water to the gravy. Mix in the cream and let the whole gravy simmer for at least 15 minutes for all the flavours to blend well. Add little more water if needed but make sure that the gravy is thick and not runny. At this stage you can also add dash of lime/lemon juice needed.
Serve this delicious creamy Maa Di Dal, garnished with finely chopped coriander leaves and a dash of ghee if needed, with any Roties or Chapatti and enjoy. And yes, it tastes better when served next day.

---

Note:

Addition of Hing is optional but recommended.
To cut down the cooking time, you can soak whole Urad dal in water overnight or for 4-5 hours.
Replace cream with yogurt for healthy option.

Continue Reading...

Aloo Palak: Green Indulgence

Aloo Palak

Ever since we came back from our adventurous trip to north Wales (more of it in coming posts, hopefully!), we have hardly been entering our kitchen except for heating the food in microwave. Simple Dal and Rasams is all we managed to cook when it became too agonising to even lift a spoon after all those adventurous sports. Well, all that climbing, biking, and walking seemed like a good way of relaxing at that time, but at present I can’t help but think that we may have overdone it when I try to walk without limping with back and leg pain!

Tired of eating same dal and rasams with rice for last few days, we set out into making something of a treat to ourselves to cheer our taste buds. With few sad looking potatoes in a pantry and a bag of wilted baby spinach on the verge of committing suicide if it was not used in a day or two, I decided to cook much loved Punjabi dish called Aloo Palak. Aloo Palak, delicious gravy of spinach with tender potatoes doesn’t need any introduction. For me Aloo Palak is a dish which serves as a benchmark for many good cooks/chefs at home and restaurants. Like many other recipes in India, Aloo Palak can also be cooked in many ways using as little as 5 ingredients to as many as dozens of ingredients. Sometime you will be served Aloo Palak in a gravy form or simple stir fried form. But whatever way it’s been cooked or served, it remains to be one of the most loved Indian foods among many foodies.

I have been cooking this dish for around 3 years and at last I can say that we have found the recipe which we love the most. The base gravy is little thick due to addition of cashews which not only thickens the gravy but gives it little nutty and wonderful taste. With cashews, I add wee bit of dried fenugreek leaves which gives it very pleasant bitter taste along with extraordinary aroma and flavour it imparts. Both these ingredients are optional, and I don’t think they are used in a traditional recipe of Aloo Palak. But at the same time, these two ingredients add that oomph factor to my recipe of Aloo Palak. So try this recipe when you want to cook little different Aloo Palak and enjoy the whole goodness of greens this winter.

Baby Spinach and Potatoes for Aloo Palak

Print This Recipe

---

Aloo Palak (Potatoes in delicious Spinach Gravy)

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Serves: 4-5

---

Ingredients:
5-6 packed cups of Spinach, washed, drained and roughly chopped
3 medium Potatoes, scrubbed, peeled, chopped and cooked with salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2-3 Tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tbsp Mint Leaves, roughly chopped (Optional)
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
5-7 Cashew Nuts
3-5 Green Chillies (Adjust acc to taste)
1 inch Cinnamon Stick
2 Green Cardamoms
2 Cloves
1 tsp Sugar
½ tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Aamchur/Dry Mango Powder or 1 tbsp Lime Juice
½ tbsp Kauri Methi/Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Optional)
1+½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1+½ tbsp Oil/Ghee
Salt to taste

Aloo Palak

Method:

Heat about ½ tbsp of oil in a pan and add cinnamon, green cardamom and cloves. Sauté it for few seconds and add ½ tsp of cumin seeds. When cumin seeds start to sizzle and turn golden red, add cashews and green chillies. Sauté it on medium flame till cashews turn light golden brown in colour.
Mix in roughly chopped spinach, sugar and cover the lid. Cook this spinach cover for few minutes on a medium heat till it is wilted. If needed sprinkle little water in between to avoid them sticking to the pan. Cool the mixture and grind it to smooth paste with mint leaves adding as little water as possible. Keep aside this mixture till required.
Heat ½ tbsp of oil in the same pan and remaining cumin seeds. When it starts to sizzle, add finely chopped onion and sauté it for a minute. Now add ginger-garlic paste and sauté it till the raw smell disappears, about a minute. Mix in chopped tomatoes and sauté till it becomes pulpy.
Add kitchen king masala, garam masala and kasuri methi and keep stirring till nice aroma of masala fills the kitchen, about a minute. Mix in ground spinach paste and add about 1- 1½ cups of water and salt to taste. Let it cook on a low to medium flame for about ten minutes.
Add cooked potato pieces and amchur powder to spinach gravy and mix well. Cook for another 5-10 minutes so that potato absorbs all the flavours. Serve this Aloo Palak with any Indian bread of your choice and enjoy.

Continue Reading...

One Stinking Flower: Cauliflower/Gobi Paratha

Cauliflower/Gobi Paratha

I was a typical headstrong, independent, strongly opinionated teenager who never hesitated to say “NO” for food cooked using particular vegetable or greens. With 90%+ vegetables and greens which belonged to my black list, it was not an easy task for my Amma to cook something which every family member loved. For me Green Leafy Vegetables were simply horrible to look at let alone taste it. Root Vegetables were loaded with little too much of carbohydrates for my taste. This strange piece of information I seemed to have picked from our Botany class taken by handsome lecturer with cute dimple on his left cheek whenever he smiled and I could see every girl in my college falling for!!! And there were not many vegetables which grew above ground level that caught my fancy. So what did I really eat as a teenager? If your answer is junk food containing lots of deep fried, greasy, spicy, bubbly, unhygienic food cooked every other place except home, then think again.

Like many millions caring, smart mothers all over the world who knows what to cook for their opinionated kids, my Amma too smartly belonged to that category. Amma always made it a point to sneak vegetables in our diet without giving us much choice other than eat it grudgingly. Grudgingly because I knew it contained the greens and vegetables which I simply hated but still the taste made it for everything else. Amma made Uttappas, Stuffed Parathas, low fat Veggie Burgers, grilled Vegetables which I couldn’t resist in spite of not being very fond of veggies and greens. Now when I think of it I cant help but wonder how Amma managed to hide her smile when she saw me stuffing all these goodies one after another with a typical teenager ‘don’t you dare to laugh at me or lecture me’ look on my face. Its not easy being a cool and bindas teenager in India I say!

One vegetable I loved to hate was Cauliflower. I was never fond of this stinking vegetable and always rolled my eyes at people who would go gaga over its shape, texture and taste. It was great unsolved puzzle for me to see people adoring this vegetable which smells (read stinks) and tastes like cabbage, yet another vegetable that topped my hate list. As usual all my theories of why we should ban Cauliflower dishes went to deaf ears of my Mommy dear and as if I really had any fat chance of making her change her mind. Right when I was grumbling as how bad it smells, Amma grated it while I covered my nose with a hanky. My entire lecture on ugly cauliflower, how stupid it was to look at and how I had rather eat cow dung in its place, went to deaf ears. She gave me knowing smile and went on adding a pinch of this and a dash of that and with in few minutes this stinky vegetables dressed with aromatic spices was stuffed in a whole wheat dough and rolled flat. Cooked to perfection with little bit of Ghee on both the sides it smelled almost heavenly to my utter disbelief. She placed this perfectly round, hot, delicious smelling Gobi ke Paranthe with a small bowl of Yogurt and my favourite Pickle in front of me and asked me to taste it if I wanted. I not only tasted it but reluctantly asked for more.

Since then I am completely hooked to this delicious Cauliflower/Gobi Parathas which is second best thing to Aloo/Potato Parathas for me. Served simply with a cup of thick home made Yogurt and spicy Pickle, it sure to win every Cauliflower haters hearts. Amma, this is to you if you are reading it by any chance :) This Cauliflower/Gobi Paratha also goes to my dear friend Srivalli who is hosting Roti Mela after hosting successful Dosa Mela. Valli, I am eagerly looking forward for yet another wonderful round-up.

Print This Recipe

---

Cauliflower/Gobi Paratha (Stuffed Indian Flat Bread with Spiced Cauliflower Gratings)
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Makes: 10 medium sized Parathas

---

Ingredients:
For the Dough:
3 cups Whole Wheat Flour/Atta (I use Pillsbury’s Chakki Atta)
¼ cup Yogurt
Warm Water for kneading
Salt to taste

For the Filling:
2-2½ cups Cauliflower Florets, grated
1 small Onion, very finely chopped
2-3 Green Chillies, finely chopped (Adjust acc to taste)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Roasted Jeera/Cumin Powder
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder or 1 tbsp Lime/Lemon Juice
½ tsp Garam Masala
¼ tsp Kitchen King Masala (Optional)
½ tbsp Kasuri Methi
1 tbsp Fresh Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp Oil (If cooking the Cauliflower)
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients Needed:
Oil/Ghee to brush while cooking the Paratha
Little Atta/flour for dusting

Cauliflower/Gobi Filling

Method:

For the Dough:
Sieve atta and mix in salt to taste and yogurt.
Slowly add warm water as and when required and make stiff dough.
Cover and keep it aside for at least half an hour.

For the Filling:
For the Paratha stuffing you can either cook Cauliflower for few minutes or just mix in all the ingredients with out cooking and then stuff the Parathas. If you prefer to cook it a little bit then follow the following steps.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When it starts to sizzle, add finely chopped onions, green chillies and sauté it on a medium heat for about 1-2 minutes till onions becomes translucent.
Now add roasted cumin powder, turmeric, dry mango powder, garam masala, kitchen king masala and sauté it for about 30 seconds.
Mix in grated cauliflower florets, salt to taste and kasuri methi and sauté it for about a minute till all the spices are mixed well.
Turn off the gas and mix in finely chopped coriander leaves and let the stuffing come to a room temperature. It is important to make sure that the filling is completely cooled before stuffing as it might ooze from parathas while rolling due to moisture content.

For the Paratha:
Knead the dough again for a minute and make equal lemon sized balls.
Roll this dough ball in flour and roll them using a rolling pin into thick poories of 4 inch in diameter.
Place about 1 tbsp of filling in the centre. Cover and seal the ends and roll again, dusting flour if necessary, into ½ cm thick roties using rolling pin.
Mean while, heat a griddle at high flame and lower it to low-medium flame.
Gently dust off the excess flour and place Stuffed Paratha on griddle and cook on both the sides till its cooked and brown spots start to appear on top. Apply little ghee/oil if desired.
Serve hot Cauliflower/Gobi Parathas immediately with any curry or with plain yogurt and pickle of your choice and enjoy.

Cauliflower/Gobi Paratha

---

Notes:

Always make it a point to see that the stuffing is as dry as possible. If not there is a high chance of it oozing out while rolling the parathas due to moisture content.
If you are a beginner, start with small amount of stuffing/filling and roll into parathas. Once you learn the technic and are comfortable with the process, you can gradually increase the amount of filling.
Other Parathas posted in Monsoon Spice

• Aloo Paratha
• Double Decker Paratha
• Mooli/Radish Paratha

---

My blog is Yummy!!!
"Yummy blog award is given to the blog with most yummy recipes/photos".

Thank you Swati and Dee for thinking of me and passing this award. I really appreciate your kind gesture. I pass this award to every food blogger as only we know how difficult it is to maintain and update your blog with new posts filled with yummilicious pictures and interesting recipes and articles. You all deserve a tight hug and pat on your back.

Continue Reading...

From India's Bread Basket: Mooli Paratha with Lassi

Mooli/Radish Parathas

There is a land that is drenched by five rivers, their shimmering magical water making it India’s ‘bread basket’. It’s the land that has its own colour, aroma and unique life style with cheerful and most lively people. In this same magical land there is one beautiful farm house with white washed walls and a large courtyard right in a centre of lively, lovely, golden mustard farm with delicate mustard flowers swaying with the cool breeze spreading their earthy aroma all around. It’s early morning time. Birds are singing their welcome songs as the sun rises and spreads his golden rays making everything to gleam and glitter as he touches them. Women of the house are up and awake even before the sun rays could touch the mother earth and they are found in the courtyard busy with their rolling pins.

All ladies are busy as they roll thick poories and then stuffs them with a spoonful of spiced and flavoured vegetables and rolls again it into thick paratha. The Chulha in one corner cooks delicious flat breads one after another and with in no time you see stacks of parathas smudged with dollops of Desi Ghee. They hurry up as they know its just matter of time when the whole household will get up and get ready to face another morning. As one of the ladies cooks last few parathas, another starts making sweet/salty Lassi to go with the Parathas. In few minutes time all the members of the family sit together and enjoy home made delicious Parathas dripping with Desi Ghee and gulping big brass glass of Lassi. Who can resist second servings of these parathas served with dollop of mother’s love? The feeling of fullness, satisfaction and contentment that comes from eating these delicious parathas cooked with mother’s love is emotional family heirlooms for every kid and even grown-ups.

Whenever I make parathas this is the scene which comes into my mind! I guess I have been getting little too much of Bollywood dose these days. After all this is very common scene in most of the movies. Whenever I used watch those ladies (in real and reel life) squatting next to hot tava (griddle), slapping together dozens of roties for their family, I would always wonder if I could make at least one roti at that time period. With little bit of practice and patience I have come a long way from rolling geographical maps to round-puffed roties and neatly stuffed Parathas. Making perfect round shaped stuffed Parathas without the filling oozing is an art in its own way and I am still learning to master this art. We owe a lot to land of five rivers for giving us this opportunity to cook and explore this extraordinary culinary delight, fresh from home.

Paratha dripping with Desi Ghee and a big glass of refreshing Lassi is common breakfast item in Punjabi household. It might sound little odd and too heavy thing to have for early breakfast but Punjabi’s by nature are extremely industrious and helps them to sustain throughout the day. Cooked with different fillings depending on preference and availability of ingredients, these Parathas are one whole meal by itself. Serve them with plain Yogurt with Pickle or with any side dish, they are sure to win everyone’s heart.

This time I made these delicious Mooli/Radish Parathas flavoured with Chillies, Garlic, Garam Masala and Anardaana/ Dried Pomegranate Powder. This simple Mooli/Radish Paratha served with Chass or Spiced Buttermilk is my entry for Mansi of Fun 'n Food’s WBB-Blanced Breakfast.

Print This Recipe

---

Mooli Paratha (Indian Flat Bread stuffed with Flavoured Radish)
Prep Time: 20 mins (Excluding Resting time)
Cooking Time: 20-30 mins
Makes: 10 medium sized Parathas

---

Ingredients:

For the Dough:
3 cups Whole Wheat Flour/Atta (I use Pillsbury’s Chakki Atta)
¼ cup Yogurt
Warm Water for kneading
Salt to taste

For the Filling:
1 large White Radish/Mooli (Approx. 2 packed cups), washed, peeled and grated
2 tbsp Red Onion, finely chopped
2-3 Green Chillies, finely chopped (Adjust acc to taste)
2-3 Garlic Flakes, finely chopped
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds, roasted and powdered
½-1 tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Anardaana/Dried Pomegranate Seeds Powder
1 tsp Lemon Juice (Optional, I like it little sour)
1-2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients Needed:
Oil/Ghee to brush while cooking the Paratha
Little Atta/flour for dusting

Mooli/Radish Stuffing

Method:
For the Filling:
Mix salt with grated radish and keep it covered for about 30 mins to 1 hour. (Don’t forget to cover the radish properly if you don’t want your kitchen and house to smell of dead rat!)
Take handful of radish at a time and squeeze out the water (which can be used while kneading the dough) as much as possible. They should be as dry as possible or else the moisture content will make it difficult when rolling the stuffed paratha.
Mix in chopped onion, chillies, pomegranate seeds powder, garam masala, chopped garlic, lemon juice if using and roasted jeera powder and keep it aside.

For the Dough:
Sieve atta and mix in salt, yogurt.
Slowly add the sqeezed water from radish and warm water as and when required and make stiff dough.
Cover and keep it aside for at least half an hour.

For the Paratha:
Knead the dough again for a minute and make equal lemon sized balls.
Roll this dough ball in flour and roll them using a rolling pin into thick poories of 4 inch in diameter.
Place about 1 tbsp of filling in the centre. Cover and seal the ends and roll again, dusting flour if necessary, into ½ cm thick roties using rolling pin.
Mean while, heat a griddle at high flame and lower it to low-medium flame.
Gently dust off the excess flour and place Stuffed Paratha on griddle and cook on both the sides till its cooked and brown spots start to appear on top. Apply little ghee/oil if desired.
Serve hot Mooli Parathas immediately with any curry or with plain yogurt and pickle of your choice and enjoy.

Stack of Mooli Paratha

---

Note:
Remember to cover the grated radish tightly as it has got very unpleasant smell when its raw.
Squeeze out as much of water as possible from radish to avoid from getting soggy parathas. If the water is not squeezed well then there is high chances of it getting difficult to roll them with out the stuffing oozing from the dough and breaking them.
If you are a beginner, start with small amount of stuffing/filling and roll into parathas. Once you learn the technic and are comfortable with the process, you can gradually increase the amount of filling.
Other Parathas posted in Monsoon Spice

• Aloo Paratha
• Double Decker Paratha

---

The best drink to go with Parathas is Lassi or Butter Milk. I like Majjige as it is called in Kannada which is nothing but Spiced Butter Milk which is the quintessential summer drink in India. My Ajji (Grandma) had this big earthen pot of churned buttermilk which was offered to the visitors who would come to meet my Ajja (Grandpa) who was the village head. It would be an understatement if I were to say that I grew up drinking Majjige more than water. It still remains to be one of my most favourite drinks for summer and even winters. Although I have different recipes and variations for this Spiced Butter Milk, Sig darling wants us to try something from other blogs and post it. I tried Priya’s Healthy Yogurt Drink which turned out to be absolutely refreshing and delicious. Thank you Priya for the recipe which we enjoyed a lot. This goes to Sig of Live to Eat who is guest hosting this month’s MBP-Mixed Drink.

Print This Recipe

---

Lassi (Spiced Butter Milk)
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: -
Makes: 2 Glasses

---

Ingredients:

½ cup Yogurt (preferably sour)
½-1 tsp Green Chillies, chopped finely (Adjust acc to taste)
¼-½ tsp Ginger, crushed
1 tsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
2 cups Water
½ tsp Roasted Jeera/Cumin Seeds, Powdered
1 tbsp Lemon Juice (Optional)
Salt to taste

Lassi/Spiced Buttermilk

Method:
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend for about a minute.
Strain and place it in a fridge till required. Serve chilled garnished with coriander leaves or mint leaves and enjoy this refreshing drink.

---

An Award:

Surprise surprise!!! Little birdy just came and told me my recipe of Badane Ennegai has won an award of Most Authentic Recipe-Brinjal hosted by my dear friend Pooja.

Thank you Pooja for this wonderful event and thanks to all you people who voted for my recipe. And congrats to Gattina & Pooja for winning other two awards.

Click here for the Badane Ennegai Recipe.

Continue Reading...

A Twist in the Tale: Palak Tofu

Palak Tofu/Saag Tofu

Me: Eiks… What’s that ugly green thing Amma?
Mom: Its spinach. I am making spinach curry for tonight’s dinner.
Me: Eww… Don’t bother! I had rather eat plain rice than eating that yucky green thing!
Mom: Why don't you taste little and see if you like it.
Me: I don’t want to taste it because I know I won’t like it. So why tasting it when I already know I am not gonna like it?
Mom: Because it’s good for you. You’ll become strong if you eat it. Remember Popeye? He is strong because he eats spinach.
Me: oh yes! Popeye eats spinach and gets lots of energy and then he beats Bluto. That means even I’ll get lots of energy to beat that bad boy in my class who pulls my hair everyday during school assembly!!! Mmm…
Mom: ~rolls her eyes~

Sounds familiar right? It’s still unknown as why kids preferred to get their tongues burnt than eat greens. I too grew up hating green leafy vegetables with passion and there was no way my Amma could make me eat them. Like many mothers all around the globe Amma tricked me by mixing it with Paratha, Dosa, Poories, deep fried goodies which we kids would eat happily without knowing it had greens which we hated. There was one exceptional green leafy vegetable which I grudgingly ate and yes, it’s Spinach or Palak. Reason for eating it was of course my childhood super hero Popeye, the sailor.

But there was one dish which I wouldn’t have shared even with Popeye. I would happily eat it without anyone holding a gun on my temple! It is classic Punjabi dish Saag Paneer or Palak Paneer. Soft paneer cubes dunked in creamy, lightly spiced spinach gravy has to be one of the most liked side dish in Indian restaurants. It is mildly spiced and hence loved by people of all age groups from 8 to 80. As Paneer is little heavy on tummy and waist, I substituted it with Tofu to make it guilt free indulgence. Addition of cashews gives very creamy consistency for Palak gravy and makes it stand apart from usual Saag Paneer dish (Tip picked from Indira's Palak Paneer recipe where she says she learnt it from her Punjabi neighbor Deviji). We enjoyed this creamy Palak Tofu/Saag Tofu with Mooli Parathas (recipe will be posted soon).

Print This Recipe

---

Palak-Tofu/Saag-Tofu (Lightly Fried Tofu in Spiced Spinach Gravy)
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves: 4-5

---

Ingredients:
1 big bunch of Spinach (Approx. 6-8 packed cups, here I used Baby Spinach)
2 cups firm Tofu, squeezed to remove excess water and cubed into ¾ inch pieces
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
2 medium Tomatoes, finely chopped
6-8 Cashew Nuts
3-4 Green Chillies (adjust acc to taste)
1 tbsp Coriander Leaves
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
1+ ½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ inch Cinnamon Stick
2-3 Green Cardamom
2-3 Cloves
¼ tsp Coriander Powder
½ tsp Kitchen King Masala (Optional)
½ tsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp Kasuri Methi (Optional)
1 tsp Sugar
2 tbsp Sour Cream (Optional)
½ + ½ tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Spinach & Tofu for Saag

Method:
Heat about ½ tbsp of oil in a pan and add cinnamon, green cardamom and cloves. Sauté it for few seconds and add ½ tsp of cumin seeds.
When cumin seeds start to crackle add cashews and green chillies. Sauté it on medium flame till cashews turn light golden brown in colour.
Mix in roughly chopped spinach, sugar and cover the lid. Cook this spinach cover for few minutes on a medium heat till it is wilted. If needed sprinkle little water in between to avoid them sticking to the pan.
Cool the mixture and grind it to smooth paste with coriander leaves adding as little water as possible. Keep aside this mixture till required.
Heat ½ tbsp of oil in the same pan and remaining cumin seeds. When it starts to sizzle, add finely chopped onion and sauté it for a minute.
Now add ginger-garlic paste and sauté it till the raw smell disappears, about a minute. Mix in chopped tomatoes and sauté till it becomes pulpy.
Add coriander powder, kitchen king masala, garam masala and kasuri methi and keep stirring till nice aroma of masala fills the kitchen, about a minute time.
Mix in ground spinach paste and add about 1- 1½ cups of water and salt to taste. Let it cook on a low to medium flame for about ten minutes.
While the spinach gravy is cooking heat little oil in a pan and placed cubed tofu pieces. Pan fry both the sides of tofu till they turn golden brown. This step is optional and can be omitted if you don’t prefer to fry tofu pieces.
Add lightly fried tofu and sour cream, if using, to spinach gravy and mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes so that tofu absorbs all the flavours. Serve this Palak-Tofu/Saag-Tofu with any Indian bread of your choice and enjoy.

Palak Tofu/Saag Tofu

---

Note:
Replace Tofu with Paneer to make wholesome Palak-Paneer or Saag-Paneer.
Addition of cashew is optional. I have added it to give creamy texture to the gravy.

Other Tofu Recipes posted in Monsoon Spice:

• Tofu Stuffed Kulcha
• Thai Veg and Tofu Green Curry
• Thai Tome Yum Soup with Mushroom & Tofu

---

Final Call for an 'Ode to Potato'! One more Day to Go...

An Ode to Potato ends on 15th of March (GMT Time). Send in your entry before the deadline and join us in the singing. Bake, boil, mash, fry, sauté, grill, stuff, cook... The choice is endless.

Deadline: 15th March, 2008

Please go through the guidelines and include all the required information in your post and mail when sending me your entry. Don't forget to add Your Name, Your Blog Name, Name of the Dish you cooked, Perm Link of the entry along with the gorgeous Photo of Potato dish.

Click Here to find out more information on this event.

Continue Reading...

Pleasure of Slow Cooking with Rajma

Rajma

January, cold January…. As I stare down another long, bitter cold, horrid and dark January, my thoughts turn to the kind of food that nurtures my tummy and soul, brightens my mood, soothes my senses. When I ask myself what’s soothing on a gray winter day, I picture tucking into deep bowl of soup or dal rice. First thing I reach for is comfort food when the weather turns bitterly cold in the depths of British winter. And who can blame me for this when the central heating at home is on full blast and air-conditioning unit in office don’t seem to get over the fact that it’s no more summer. For most of us comfort food has three characteristics- it offers a substantial hit of carbos; it is never over-flavoured, neither bland nor too spicy/sweet; and it is always easy to eat without much fuss. From the time I got back from my trip I seem to have spent most of last two weeks feeling miserable, homesick and continuously struggling with my work deadline. Ultimately it’s comfort food that sooths my nerves and hugs me in its warmth as it touch my lips and spreads its warmth to my soul.

Yes, lately I have been cooking comfort foods. I am not talking about some high calorie sins here. I am cooking and eating simple, traditional, no-fuss food which I crave for. It’s a food which takes me on a virtual tour to back home where I see little 6 something me eating holding small balls of rasam/dal rice in my little chubby fingers and eating it while listening to stories. These small balls of rasam/dal rice with ghee, “Kai Thuttu" as we call, was given by Amma would taste heavenly in spite the fact that it was just every day food. It’s mother’s love that transferred this common food to something extra ordinary. It’s one experience which every one of us will treasure for rest of our life. Even now in my mid 20’s I never spare a chance of eating Kai Thuttu when I am at home with my Amma.

Apart from simple Dals and Rasams one such dish which I strongly believe falls into comfort food zone is Rajma-Chawal. Delicious Red Kidney Beans simmered in creamy and aromatic onion-tomato gravy lightly touched with right spices served with a steaming bowl of basmati rice is special favourite of mine for seeing off the winter blues. Rajma is one dish where you hardly need to sweat out in front of the stove yet unbelievably the end result is one lip smackingly delicious meal. When ever I cook some lentil/pulses I follow slow cooking method where the pulses are simmered in gravy for long hours to blend in all the flavour. One thing to remember when you go for slow cooking method is to use heavy bottomed pan or utensils so that the gravy doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If you own an earthen pot then you will sure to experience another dimension of taste. With little stirring here and there this Rajma recipe is simple to nothing and it is sure to please everyone’s taste buds. I'm sending this comforting bowl of Rajma to Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook who has asked us to cook with beans/pulses for her My Legume Love Affair and Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey who is hosting MM-Comfort Foods. How can I say no to these lovely ladies!!! Hope you girls enjoy it.

Print This Recipe

---

Rajma (Kidney Beans in lighly spiced Onion-Tomato Gravy)
Prep Time: 5-10 mins (Excluding soaking time)
Cooking Time: 45 mins - 1 hour
Serves: 3-4

---

Ingredients:
1 can Kidney Beans or 1 cup Rajma/Red Kidney Beans, soaked over night
1 large Onion, finely chopped
1 can chopped Tomatoes or 3 large tomatoes, finely chopped
1 inch Ginger, thinly sliced
2-3 Garlic Flakes, finely chopped
2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder
1 tsp Amchoor/Dry Mango Powder or Anardaana Powder
1 tbsp Kasuri Methi
1 inch Cinnamon
3 Green Cardamoms
2 Cloves
½ + ½ tbsp Oil
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Hing/Asafetida
Salt to taste

Rajma
Method:
If using soaked kidney beans, cook the beans in pressure cooker with little salt and enough water for about 15 minutes till it is cooked.
Heat ½ tbsp of oil in a pan and add ginger, garlic and onion pieces to it. Sauté it for about 1-2 mins till onion turn translucent and raw smell of ginger garlic is gone.
Add chopped tomatoes or canned tomatoes and sauté it for about 2 minutes. Switch off the flame and let the onion-tomato base cool down a little.
Once cooled take onion-tomato base, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves in a blender and grind them to smooth paste.
Heat ½ tbsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add cumin seeds and hing. When jeera starts to crackle transfer the ground mixture to the pan and give a good stir. Cook on a medium flame for about 3-4 minutes.
Add cooked/canned Rajma, chilli powder, amchoor/anardaana powder, kasuri methi and salt to taste. Mix 1-2 cups of water and reduce the flame.
Cook cover in low flame, stirring occasionally for about 20-30 minutes till all the flavours blend well. This slow cooking gives creamy texture to the gravy as well as great taste.
Serve hot Rajma garnished with coriander leaves with steaming bowl of Basmati Rice or Roties and enjoy.

---

Note:
Substitute Rajma with White Kabuli Channa or Black Channa with Potatoes and follow the same recipe for different flavour.
Add greens like Spinach/Palak, Methi/Fenugreek leaves to add more green intake.

Few more Comfort Foods (Dal/Rasams) of mine posted in Monsoon Spice are

• Nimbu Saaru/Lemon Rasam
• Fried Okra Dal
• Raw Mango & Spinach Dal
• Dal Palak
• Coconut Milk Saaru/Rasam
• Tomato Saaru/Rasam

Continue Reading...

Matar Paneer with Butter Naan

Here are sweet peas, on tiptoe for a flight;
With wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white,
And taper fingers catching at all things,
To bind them all about with tiny rings.
- John Keats

Lucious Peas in Pod

One thing my mother never had to say even when I was in little polka dot frock was to eat peas. We kids at home loved our job of shelling sweet peas from their pods and collect all those bouncing little green gems in our little hand. Snap, shell and pop some peas into mouth; how simple is that? Knowing our love affair with fresh peas, Amma always bought large bag of shelled peas from farmer’s market. Little more than half of those little gems would disappear well before it was put into the basket and little more would easily disappear on its way to kitchen.
I don’t remember when my love affair with peas started. It had to be love at first bite and I still can’t get enough of it. Although we can consume peas throughout the year as they are available in cans, dried form or frozen, they can never match the taste of fresh peas from their pods. I have been buying fresh peas from our farmer’s market as April, May and June are usually the only months that they are available fresh. So if you’ve never had fresh peas, straight from the pod, you’re in for a treat. Fresh peas are sweet and delicious and I feel they taste best uncooked as they are nutritious and low in fat. With overflowing peas in our kitchen we decided to use them in cooking. So we have been having good servings of Peas Pulao, Peas stir fry and Peas with different vegetables. When it comes to peas how can anyone not cook Matar Paneer. Fresh Peas of summer and creamy Paneer (Indian Cheese) gently cooked in thick gravy of onion and tomato seasoned with aromatic Indian spices and generous dollop of butter is a pleasure to savor. When served with soft Butter Naan it’s a treat for all your senses.

Matar Paneer with Butter Naan

---

Matar Panner
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 25-30 mins
Serves: 3-4

---

Ingredients:
1½ cups Fresh Peas, shelled
2 cups Paneer, cut into 1 inch square
2 large Tomatoes, chopped finely
½ cup single Cream/Sour Cream/Evaporated Milk
1 tbsp+2 tbsp Butter/Ghee
1 tbsp Kasoori Methi
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 Star Aniseed/Marathi Muggu
1 Bay Leaf
2-3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste

To Grind to Paste:
2 medium Onions, roughly chopped
1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder/Paprika
1 tsp Garam Masala
½ tsp Kitchen King Masala
¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder
2-3 tbsp Cashew Nuts, broken
½ inch Ginger
2-3 Garlic Flakes
2 Green Cardamoms

Matar Paneer

Method:
Heat butter/ghee in a pan and shallow fry paneer cubes both the sides till they turn light golden brown colour. Immerse them in a warm water till required so that they don’t harden.
To the same ghee/butter add jeera, star aniseed, bay leaf and kasuri methi and sauté till jeera starts to pop and splutter.
Now add ground masala and fry it on a medium flame till oil starts to separate.
Add finely chopped tomatoes, salt to taste and about ¾ to 1 cup of water and boil till gravy thickens.
Add fresh/frozen peas, paneer and cream and cook for further 5-7 minutes over a medium flame.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with naan or roties.

Matar Paneer

Naan is a round flat bread made of maida and cooked in a Tandoor or clay oven. You can make naan using pressure cooker or oven or grill or stove top. This time I tried Coffee’s Stove Top method which is not only easy but made beautiful tandoor style naan.
Remember to use Cast Iron Tawa and NEVER use non-stick tawa for this method.

---

Butter Naan
Prep time: 15 mins (excluding rising time)
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Serves: 3-4

---

Ingredients:
2 cups All Purpose Flour/Maida
2 tbsp Yogurt
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 tsp Salt
¼ tsp Baking Powder
2 tbsp Oil
¾ cup Luke Warm Water
1 tbsp Sesame Seeds

Butter Naan

Method:
Dissolve yeast in warm water and keep aside for 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile mix all dry ingredients: maida, sugar, salt and baking powder.
To this add yogurt and oil and mix.
Make a small well in the center and slowly add dissolved yeast water. Keep mixing till you get soft pliable dough.
Cover this dough with a wet cheese cloth or plastic wrap and keep it in a warm place for 1½ to 2 hours till the dough rises and doubles its original quantity.
Punch down this raised dough to release air and divide it into big lemon sized balls.
Heat iron tawa and roll the dough ball into a ¼ inch thick oval shaped roti with a rolling pin. Sprinkle little sesame seeds and gently roll the naan.
Sprinkle generous amount of water to one side of the naan and gently place it on the heated iron tawa. Remember to put the water side down.
When you see bubbles forming on the surface of naan in few seconds time, lift the tawa and turn it down so that the surface of naan is directly exposed to the flame. While keeping the flame on high, move the tawa so that naan is cooked evenly.
Naan is well cooked when you see brown patches on the surface of naan.

Apply butter or ghee and serve hot with any Curry of your choice.

Matar Paneer with Butter Naan

PS: Thankyou for your concern and mails/messages. I was not be able to response to your comments and visit your blogs as I had crazy busy schedule. And more than that I am trying cope with the pain of losing a loved one who was very special to me in many ways. Till now I have only heard about the way how death touches others life and now I understand. This is the first time I am experiencing the pain of losing a precious one who was a backbone of our family.

Continue Reading...

Dal Makhani

Bombay-Goa highway, few hungry students, time well past the lunch hours, speeding bikes at 100 kms per hour, hot and sizzling afternoon… With few ten rupees notes stuck in our pocket we obviously didn’t dare to enter some plush and expensive restaurants with swanky ambience and attentive maitre d’ to greet us with fake smile plasttered. We took a detour to one of the small eat-out joints where you can’t expect to see cushioned chairs and tables in an air conditioned room with soothing music playing in the background. There you will hear blaring sound of Bhangra music and see one small shed which is a cooking area with tandoor (earthen oven half buried in ground) in one corner and huge gas burners cooking creamy and delicious Punjabi food in big metal pots. In an open air, the coir woven wooden cots and a big wooden plank served as a seating and table arrangements. Then came our maitre d’, a small boy in a blue checks knickers and vest who greeted us by slapping a big steel tumbler of water on the rickety table. When we asked for the menu, the little boy started rattling off without pausing for breath… Dal-makhani Dal-fry Aloo-gobi Palak-paneer Matar-paneer Mushroom-masala... With some training the boy surely could give Shankar Mahadevan run for his money with his own album called ‘Dhaba Breathless’ ;) With in few minutes we were served Roties, red onion and green chilli in a big Thali and array of curries filled in generous sized bowls. It didn’t take very long for us to lick the plate clean while the Daler Mehendi sang away ‘Bolo Ta Ra Ra’ in the background.
Yes my friends, I am talking about a Dhaba, which is a small road side restaurant offering quick service to truck drivers and people like me who can go on and on with my love affair with Dhaba food. Originally located on major highways, where they were supposed to cater to truck drivers on long distance travels, these dhabas have now become a popular option with students, professionals and even families. For students like us Dhaba was a god sent gift which not only served delicious food but also at very reasonable cost.
This month’s RCI did took me down the memory lane and I have been cooking Punjabi delicacies one after the other. One Punjabi food I always loved is Dal Makhani. The whole Urad dal and Red Kidney beans simmered in creamy gravy of butter, onion, tomatoes and spices with a liberal dose of cream is something to die for. Butter, spices and cream??? Oh!!! Did I hear some grumblings from my weight conscious friends? You can substitute the cream with yogurt and reduce the amount of Butter to make equally delicious healthier version of Dal Makhani. But I do love to indulge in luxury of rich Indian food once in a while and forget about my expanding waistline ;)

Dal Makhani with Poori

---

Dal Makhani
Prep Time: 10-15 mins (excluding soaking time)
Cooking Time: 30-45 mins
Serves: 3-4

---

Ingredients:
1 cup whole Urad Dal/Black Lentils
½ cup Rajma/Red Kidney Beans
2 medium Onions, chopped very finely
2 large Tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
2 Green Chillies, slit
2-3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Coriander Powder
½ tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder
½ tsp Anaar Daana Powder/Amchur Powder (optional)
½ tbsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
1 tbsp Kasuri Methi(optional)
2-3 tbsp Butter
½ cup Cream/1 cup Yogurt, beaten
Salt to taste

Dal Makhani

Method:
Soak whole Urad dal and rajma in 3 cups of water overnight.
Next day pressure cook the soaked lentils in 3 cups of water with salt, turmeric powder for about 2 whistles or 15 minutes(approx). Cooked dal should feel soft to touch.
Let the pressure cooker cool down completely before opening the lid. Stain the water and keep it aside. Now lightly mash the cooked dal with a ladle or masher and keep it aside.
Melt about 1 tbsp of butter in a pan and to this add cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds start to splutter, add slit green chillies, kasuri methi and ginger-garlic paste and sauté it for around 30 seconds.
Now add finely chopped onions and sauté them over a medium heat for around 2-3 minutes till they turn golden yellow.
Mix in finely chopped tomatoes and sauté it for around 3 minutes.
Add coriander powder, kashmiri chilli powder and garam masala and sauté it for a minute or so till you get nice aroma.
Mix the cooked dal with about one and half cup of water (use the reserved dal water also). Add remaining butter, amchur/anaar daana powder and mix well.
Cover the pan and cook on a medium-low heat for about 15-20 minutes till the gravy starts to thicken. I have found that the more time you cook the dal, tastier it is to eat. Adjust the seasoning as per your preference.
Mix in the cream or yogurt and cook again for another 5 minutes in a low heat. Garnish with finely chopped coriander and serve hot with Roties or Rice or Poories(puffed Indian bread) as I did.

Dal Makhani

---

Did You Know?
The Vedic and Epic period was socially and culturally prolific in the Punjab. During this period, the Hindu scriptures, the Rig Veda and the Upanishads, were composed in the Punjab.
Tradition maintains that the sage Valmiki composed the Ramayana near the present location of Amritsar.
In legend, Krishna delivered the divine message of the Bhagavad Gita at Kurukshetra.
Eighteen principal Puranas were written in the region. The authors of Vishnu Purana and the Shiva Purana belonged to Central Punjab.
Ancient Punjabi Culture during the period of the Indus valley civilization is one of high sophistication and many world firsts, such as the world's first planned cities. Ancient Punjabi Culture is a counterpart of ancient Chinese culture, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and of ancient Greece.
(Source: Wikipedia)

---

Continue Reading...

Mushroom-Rajma Curry with Mint Chapatti & Spiced Butter Milk

Well, well… I never knew my blogger friends had patience to read my bragging all these days until I was tagged for 7 & 8 Random Facts MeMe by Bee, Arundathi, Richa and Priyanka. Thanks ladies for tagging me :) Initially I thought all I have been doing these days were talk about my memories, me and everyone who is connected to my life in one way or the other. Looks like you smart people want me to talk more about myself and talking is what I am exactly gonna do ~smiles wickedly~ Don’t blame me if you fall asleep in middle and start to have second thoughts as why you asked me to write this MeMe. I am just a simple human being who is fulfilling my friend’s wish ;) Those who are not interested in reading all this bragging can scroll down (a lot) and read the delicious Mushroom-Rajma Curry with Mint Chapatti and Spiced Butter Milk. Those who still want to test their patience level are welcome to read my 8 Random Facts about me, me and only me :)

1. For the first few months of our married life, Krish and I both survived with just 2 ancient vessels to cook and 2 mismatching plates from his student life. Along with those two vessels and plates we were the proud owners of few mismatching coffee mugs and an ancient gas burner and refrigerator which made enough ice in freezer to cover our backyard. It was after few months we received a big parcel from India which contained a pressure cooker and mixer grinder along with full batch of different masalas and pickle jars and a cook book. Thinking about those days and looking at our over flowing kitchen cabinets with different gadgets and cooking ingredients I don’t know how we managed to cook and survive all those days.

2. First dish I ever cooked was Gobi Manchurian when I was in my early teens. I remember coming home after school and had serious craving for Gobi Manchurian. Mom was not at home and I had no clue as what goes into the recipe. Just going with my instincts I mixed some ingredients and voila!!! It was ready within half an hour. Although it was not the proper recipe for making Manchurian it did taste very close to Manchurian. After my first venture and adventure I started cooking Indo-Chinese once in blue moon without necessarily following any recipe or instructions. Even today I am not sure if my family loved eating what I cooked or ‘pretended’ to eat ;)

3. From my early teens to till I got married I lived in hostel and hardly entered kitchen during my semester holidays. I didn’t know the difference between one dal to other when I came here after marriage. I remember using toor dal instead of channa dal for tempering/tadka and using masoor dal in place of toor dal. According to me cooking was not a big deal and all I needed was to chop few onions and tomatoes and cook some vegetable with ginger-garlic paste and garam masala for any north Indian food and cook few chunks of vegetables with dal and sambar/rasam powder and season it with mustard curry leaves tempering for south Indian food. I give all credits to 3 important people in my life, my Amma, Atte and Krish, who made me realise cooking is not just a chore but an art. It was my husband who taught me to cook sambar and rasam and then slowly I picked up some basic recipes from my MIL and Amma. They were my 24X7 helpline for the 1st few months (even now) and thanks to them now I have found whole new meaning and respect to cooking.

4. Spice Corner was born out of my boredom and home sickness. Although I had another general blog where I used to pen down all my rants I thought of having another blog to jot down all the recipes given by my Amma and Atte. It was easier to write down the recipe in blog than in a piece of paper which I would keep some where and loose. It was much later when I realised there are whole bunch of food blogs in blog-sphere while googling for few recipes. First blog I stumbled was Anita’s My Treasure and My Pleasure and since then it’s history. I never ever thought of making friends in this cyber space and even today I feel I am still dreaming. For a person who usually gets bored of everything after some period and loves change, I have surprised myself with sticking to Spice Corner all these months. Eventually I might get bored with food blogging but for now I am enjoying what I am doing.

5. Unlike my Amma and MIL who have beautiful garden, I don’t have green thumb. Last year was the first time I tried my hand in vegetable gardening and it was a complete disaster. It was our first gardening experience and we did what most people do, ignore the instructions in seeds pack. We did get few crops of carrots, tomatoes but I didn’t have a heart to cook them after watching them grow everyday. This year we started our very ambitious vegetable gardening but unfortunately weather seems to be not on our side. Will wait and see what happens in the coming year.

6. I am a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and Carnatic Classical singer. I started my classical dance training when I was just 6 years old and continued it till I joined my degree class. After that I kind of completely lost touch with it. During my school and college days there was not a single annual day where I did not perform on stage. I loved the lights, stage, music and performing in front of hundreds of people. I do regret sometimes for not continuing my passion for dance. Now I do different kind of performance, giving presentations and seminars ;)

7. I am a hoarder. I can’t stop buying things for kitchen and home. Every time we go out for shopping I end up buying few more kilos of rice or dals or pickles or any such things which I can hoard for months. With the items we have in our pantry we can survive for 2 months without spending a penny on any items. My hoarding issue doesn’t limit to cooking items. I still have got big box filled with the entire greeting cards I received from family and friends on special occasions and all the letters from my parents and friends I collected till date. I treasure each and every small item which for me is the most precious things than any expensive metals or stones. I can’t let things go so easily and like Bee pointed I still have many single earing whose pair is lost some where, long time ago;)

8. I am a big movie buff. I can watch even the most boring movie till ‘The End’ sign pops up on the screen. Same thing applies when it comes to reading. Once I start reading a book I will make it a point to finish it in one sit even if the author bores me to death. I don’t understand my obsession with finishing any thing which I have started and may be that’s the reason I have read hundreds of M&B’s in spite of same kind of stories and very predictable ‘they lived happily ever after’ endings. Back in my school days I remember reading comics and story books hidden in between text books during class hours. I love to watch cartoons and at any given chance, I prefer animated movies to dishum-dishum violent types. I guess my kid will be the luckiest one because I am the happiest kid when I am watching my favourite Tom and Jerry show or The Simpsons (I have already taken a leave from office to watch the first day first show of The Simpsons movie ;) or any cartoon shows.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8… Yayyyyy… I did it! If you are still awake after reading my almost never ending bragging let us talk about food. OK, I will not take long. So stop yawning there!

Mushroom-Rajma Curry with Mint Chapatti & Spiced Butter Milk

Here is my contribution to this month’s RCI-Punjab which celebrates the cuisines from different regions of India. Regional Cuisines of India is a brainchild of Lakshmi and this month it is guest hosted by our lovely Richa. Around seventy percent of the menu in most of the North Indian restaurants is from Punjab-the land of five rivers. When ever I think of Punjab I think of Bhangra (lively folk dance), legendry Punjabi Kisse (folk tales of love and honour), golden mustard fields and Punjabi food. Think about those lovely paronthes (Indian stuffed bread) smeared with desi ghee and dipped in Mah Di Dal and Sarson KA Saag. Then you have big glass of Ganne ki juice (sugarcane juice) or Lassi (sweetened Yogurt). Who can resist this kind of temptation? Not a mere mortal like me. Just the thought of food is enough to make all your senses come alive.
I went to make my all time favourite Rajma and realised I didn’t have enough Rajma to Serve four hungry people. Then ended up adding mushrooms to Rajma (Red Kidney Beans) and every one seemed quite happy with the end product as I had empty vessel and nicely licked plate to deal with. The refreshing Mint Roti with Mushroom Rajma Masala and a big glass of Spiced Butter Milk was the perfect meal to serve.

Mushroom-Rajma Curry

---

Mushroom Rajma Masala
Prep Time: 15 mins (excluding soaking time)
Cooking Time: 30-40 mins
Serves: 3-4

---

Ingredients:
1 canned Rajma/Red Kidney Beans or 1 cup of Rajma soaked in water overnight
2 cups Mushrooms, quartered
1 large Onion, chopped roughly
2 large Tomatoes, quartered
2 Green Chillies, slit
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
¼ tsp Coriander Powder
½ tsp Amchur(Dried Mango Powder)/Anar daana(Pomegranate Powder)
½ tbsp Garam Masala
½ tbsp Kitchen King Masala
5-6 Cashew Nuts
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
2-3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, chopped finely
½ + ½ tbsp Ghee/Oil
Salt to taste

Mushroom-Rajma Curry with Mint Chapatti

Method:
Drain the water from canned kidney beans and keep aside. If you are using a dried beans then soak them in enough water over night and pressure cook for 10 minutes or 1 whistle.
Heat ½ tbsp of ghee/oil in a pan and add chopped onion. Sauté this onion for about 3-5 minutes in a medium flame till it becomes transparent.
Now add ginger-garlic paste and sauté it for a minute or so till its raw smell is gone.
Transfer this mixture to a food processor and add tomatoes, cashew nuts, chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, amchur/anar daana powder, garam masala and kitchen king masala. Grind it to a smooth paste without adding any water and keep aside.
Heat ½ tbsp of ghee/oil in a pan and add jeera. When cumin seeds starts to sizzle and pop add mushrooms and slit green chillies. Sauté the mushrooms in a high heat for 2-3 minutes till they starts to leave little water.
Now add the ground mixture and mix well. Reduce the heat and keep stirring for about 3-4 minutes.
Add cooked or canned rajma, salt to taste, sugar and about ½ cup of water.
Simmer and cook covered for another 5 minutes till all flavours blend well stirring in between so that the gravy don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
If you feel the gravy is too thick add little more water to get the required consistency. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with roties or rice.

Now coming to my own creation…Tadaa…. Here is my Mint Roties or Chapattis, whatever you wish to call. Tasted great with Mushroom Rajma Curry with little hint of minty taste. I am happy with the way they puffed and looked. After my unsuccessful attempt at making puffed chapattis I had almost given up making them at home. Last month I got a bag of Pillsbury Atta and now I know the problem was with the Atta I used before not with the way I kneaded it. The below recipe will make around 8 good sized chapattis.

Mushroom-Rajma Curry with Mint Chapatti

---

Minty Chapattis
Prep Time: 15-20 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serves: 4-5

---

Ingredients:
3 cups Atta/Wheat Flour (I used Pillsbury) and little more for dusting
1 tbsp Mint Paste
¾ tsp Salt
½ cup Warm Milk
Little warm Water
Ghee for smearing the surface of each chapatti

Method:
Place flour in a bowl and add salt, mint paste and milk to it and start kneading well.
Knead well for 5-6 minutes by adding little water at a time so that you get soft dough.
Leave to stand for at least 15 minutes or so and knead a little again.
Make a golf ball sized balls and roll it using rolling pin by dusting each ball with little atta so that it don’t stick to the surface.
Chapatti should be rolled from centre out so that the surface has equal thickness and usually the sides of the chapatti should be little thinner than the center. This way the chapatti nicely puffs like poories when cooked.
Place the rolled chapatti on hot griddle and turn it over when you see a few blisters on the surface. Cook the other side same way.
Pick the chapatti with tongs and transfer it on the direct flame (medium flame) or in a grill. Move it around continuously so that it doesn’t get burnt.
Transfer it to the serving plate and smear its surface with ghee which will keep them soft for long time. Serve hot chapattis with any curry of your choice.

The Punjabi meal will be incomplete without a big glass of Lassi (sweetened Yogurt) or Chas (Buttermilk). So my hubby dear was ready with a chilled Spiced Buttermilk and here is his recipe.

Mushroom-Rajma Curry with Mint Chapatti & Spiced Butter Milk

---

Spiced ButterMilk
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cooking Time: -
Serves: 2-3

---

Ingredients:
2 cups Yogurt, little sour one is better
½ inch Ginger, grated or chopped very finely
1-2 Green Chillies, chopped very finely
2 tbsp Lime Juice
1 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
½ tsp Salt
2 cups Cold Water

Method:
Place yogurt, salt, lemon juice, ginger and water in a food processor and whiz it for 15 seconds or so till u get a bubbled drink.
Mix in finely chopped green chillies and coriander leaves and chill it in fridge for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Continue Reading...