Shrikhand-Puri, Amti, Dhodkya Chi Bhaji, Varan Bhat, Koshimbir, Chitranna, Batatyachi Bhajji for Gudi Padwa

I made a lot of dishes for this Gudi Padwa but the star of the day was Shrikhand which is the ambrosia of Maharashtrians. Its a creamy dessert made from yogurt and flavored with cardamom and saffron. If you want to make a fat free light version of this, I'll tell you right away that it is simply not worth it. The delight of this dish lies in its creamy richness and you just cannot do away with using full fat yogurt. It is best enjoyed when you let it sit for at least half a day so that the flavors get absorbed and be sure to chill it before devouring it with hot puris. My dad is a connoisseur of Shrikhand and I got specific instructions( more like questions) from him when I was making this dish. His expression and happiness when he eats this dish always reminds me of a cat that eats the cream and purrs with pleasure and has cream dangling from its whiskers:D:D This post and dish is dedicated to my gourmand dad from whom I inherited my enthusiasm for food and thereby honed my talent in the kitchen.

In the picture above from left to right, starting with puri I have Puri, Shrikahnd, Amti, Dhodkya Chi Bhaji, Varan-Bhat, Koshimbir, Chitranna, Batatyachi Bhajji. Here are some of the recipes that I haven't blogged before -

Shrikhand

Ingredients:

1. Full fat yogurt - 8-10 cups
2. Sugar - I used about 1 cup but it could vary based on how sweet you like it. I suggest adding 1 spoon at a time and doing a taste test until it feels just right.
3. Green cardamom - 8/10 pods, peeled and powdered
4. Saffrom - 2 pinches

Directions:

1. Drain the water from the yogurt by tying it in a thin cloth or cheese cloth and hanging it a little above the ground so that gravity can aid with this. I usually hang it on my tap and suspend it in my sink. You may have to do this overnight for the liquid to be completely drained out.
2. What you are left with is a thick creamy residue. If you feel that this is grainy, you can send it through a sieve but I find that for the yogurt in USA you don't need to do this.
3. Add sugar, cardamom powder and saffron and mix really well into this yogurt.
4. Do this a day before serving for better results. It always tastes yummier the next day. Thats pretty much it. You can add some dried fruits to this if you like but it tastes heavenly as is.
5. Another variation of this called 'Amrakhand' is made by adding mango pulp to the shrikhand. You can make it the same way as above with lesser sugar since you have the mango pulp for sweetness.

Koshimbir: The name of this dish applies to all raita-like dishes made with tomato, cucumber, carrot, onion or a combination of them and even guava. What distinguishes the maharashtrian way of making this is the distinct flavor of peanut powder in it.

Ingredients

1. Tomatoes - 2, chopped
2. Yogurt - 2 cups, beaten
3. Roasted peanut powder - 3 tsp
4. Oil - 1 tsp
5. Jeera - 1/2 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. Hing - 1/4th tsp
8. Green chillies - 2 chopped fine
9. Curry leaves - 4/5
10. Salt
11. Sugar - 1/4 tsp

Directions

1. Mix the tomatoes, rogurt, salt, sugar and peanut powder together.
2. Heat oil and add the mustard, jeera, hing, green chillies and curry leaves to it.
3. Once the mustard seeds sputter, add it to the tomato mixture and mix well.
4. The same can be done with cucumbers and grated carrot instead of tomatoes.

Dodkya Chi Bhaji (Ridge Gourd):

Ingredients

1. Ridge gourd - 2, chopped into 1 inch pieces
2. Chana dal - 1 cup, soaked for 1 hour
3. Oil - 1 tsp
4. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
5. Jeera - 1/2 tsp
6. Hing - 1 pinch
7. Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
8. Salt
9. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Kala masala (maharashtrian masala)
11. Water - 2-3 cups
12. Jaggery - 1/2 inc piece
13. Fresh corriander - 1 cup, fnely chopped

Directions

1. Heat oil and add jeera, mustard, hing and turmeric powder
2. Add the dal and cut ridge gourd pieces, salt, kala masala, red chilli powder, jaggery and water and once mixed, place a lid on the pan and let it all steam until the water reduces a little and the veggies are cooked.
3. Garnish with fresh corriander.

Leftovers Heaven - Fodni Chi Chappati and Fodni Cha Bhat

Leftovers are ingredients for a whole range of yummy dishes and some so good that you deliberately keep food aside to enjoy them in a new form the next day. Two of my favorite leftover dishes are fodni chi chappati (translated as tadka chappati) and fodni cha bhat (translated as fodni cha bhat). As a kid, I would avidly wait for there to be leftover chappati and rice so that mom could make these dishes the next day. I was always advised not to eat them as fresh food is more nutritious and that made these dishes all the more inviting:D. My eagerness to eat these made me try them with fresh ingredients instead of leftovers the next day and trust me they do taste better with leftovers. I was watching a Khana Khazaana episode dedicated to reusing leftovers and there were some lovely recipes like spinach rice, rice fritters which I am definitely going to try the next time if I can have enough of these two:). I have also made curd rice with tadka, pulihora and tamarind rice with leftovers before and they taste good too. Chappati is really a luxury for me today. I make it sometimes but most times I bring it from outside. So to save it for this dish is hard sometimes and I don't get to make it as often. I now really admire the effort my mom took to fresh food especially the chappatis on the dinner table and that too with 3 kids. Whew! These women of the older generations really were super women. On that thought, here are the recipes -

Fodni Chi Chappati:

Ingredients:

1. 4 or 5 stale chappatis - cut into small 1/2 inch size pieces, if possible do this by hand instead of a knife
2. Yellow onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
3. Curry leaves - 10
4. Fresh corriander - 2 cupes finely chopped
5. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
6. Oil - 1 tsp
7. Turmeric - 1 pinch
8. Green chillies - 1 finely chopped
9. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
10. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
11. Jeera - 1 tsp
12. Salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil and add mustard, jeera and turmeric.
2. Once the mustard seed sputter, add the green chillies and curry leaves.
3. After a min, add the onion and saute till well done
4. Add the chappati, chilli powder and salt and cook till well done and the chappati start becoming a little crisp.
5. Add the coriander and lemon juice and mix well. Take the pan off the gas.

Fodni Cha Bhaat:

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups leftover rice
2. Oil - 1 tsp
3. Mustard - 1 tsp
4. Jeera - 1 tsp
5. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
6. Hing - 1/4 tsp
7. Onion - 1 medium, chopped
8. Green capsicum - 1, cubed
9. Green chilli - 1 finely chopped
10. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Corriander - 1 cup, chopped
12. Lemon juice - 2 tsps
13. Salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil in the pan and add mustard, jeera, turmeric and hing.
2. Once the mustard seed sputter, add the green chillies.
3. After a min, add the onions until they are not totally cooked and slightly underdone.
4. Add capsicum and saute for 2 mins.
5. Add the rice, chilli powder and salt. Mix well and let the rice steam and get cooked thoroughly for a few mins.
6. Add the corriander and lemon juice and the dish is ready.

Note: When cooking with stale food, it is always important to make sure the dish is heated and cooked well.

Instant Mango Pickle / Ambyacha Loncha

This is a very simple and easy mango pickle that my mom used to make during summers when the raw mangoes were plentiful. It needs very few basic ingredients but the flavor of the mango makes up for everything and gives it a unique taste. It is best when enjoyed with ghee and rice.

Ingredients:

1. Raw mango - 1 cut into small cubes
2. Red chilli powder - 4 tsps (Try the one that is made for pickles specifically)
3. Salt - 1 tsp
4. Oil - 2 tsps
5. Mustard seeds - 2 tsps
6. Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
7. Hing - 1/2 tsp
8. Haldi - 1/4th tsp
   
9. Lemon juice - 2 tsps

Directions:

1. Mix the mango pieces, salt, red chilli powder.
2. Heat oil and add mustard, green chillies, hing and haldi. Heat it until all the mustard seeds have spluttered but not burnt.
3. Add the oil mixture to the mango along with the lemon juice. Mix thoroughly and let it sit for an hour. You will see the mangoes releasing a lot of juices.
   
4. This pickle is best stored in the fridge after a day of sitting outside.
   

Appe With Chutney and Sambhar

Tonight's dinner reminds me of this song because appe is what you get when you have excess dosa batter. You don't even want to know the actual parody I was humming. Appe is a a dish made in a dutch muffin style pan(below) with leftover dosa batter.
All you do is oil the pan lightly and drop the dosa batter. Flip them using a fork or a skewer and cook on other side. Enjoy hot with sambhar or chutney.

Sabudana Vada

Sabudana vada is a delicacy enjoyed during upvas days by Maharashtrians. How we eat sabudana, potatoes, peanuts and still claim it is upvas is beyond my understanding but I love all dishes made on upvas days all the same:). The issue with sabudana is that it really depends on it quality how the dishes turn out. Luckily the one I get works just as well as the one my mom used in India.

Ingredients:

1. Sabudana - 3 cups
2. Green chilies - 8-10
3. Jeera - 4 tsps
4. Roasted peanut powder - 2 cups
5. Potatoes - 2
6. Salt
7. Oil for frying

Directions:

1. Wash the sabudana in water and drain all the water. Leave it overnight with very little water at the bottom of the vessel. Make sure the sabudana is light and fluffed up, otherwise sprinkle some water every few hours until you see it soaked.
2. Boil the potatoes, mash then and add then to the sabudana.
3. Add peanut powder, jeera, salt and green chilli paste and make a dough.
4. Heat the oil in the fryer.
5. Make small patties of the sabudana and deep fry until they turn a little dark. Enjoy with green chutney or ketchup.
   

Kolhapuri Rassa

This is a very traditional and typical Kolhapuri dish that all of us at home used to relish with puris when my mom made it. Typically rassa's are made with meat in them but this is a vegetarian version and its yum o! (ss Rachel Ray would put it). It is really spice (if you choose to make it I did not take a pic this time but will update as soon as I make it again.

Ingredients:

1. Yellow onion - 1, finely chopped
2. Tomato - 1, finely chopped
3. Potato - 2 medium sized, cubed
4. Cauliflower - 1 whole, cut into small pieces
5. Ginger - 2 inch piece, chopped
6. Garlic - 5-6 cloves
7. Green chillies - 7-8
8. Fresh corrriander - 1 bunch
9. Oil - 1 tbsp
10. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
11. Haldi - 1/2 tsp
12. Hing - 1/4th tsp
13. Jeera - 1 tsp
    
14. Salt
    
15. Red chilli powder
    

Directions:

1. Make a paste with the ginger, garlic, green chillies, salt, red chilli powder, jeera, corriander and set aside.
2. Heat oil and add mustard, haldi, hing and let the mustard seed splutter
3. Add onions and sautee until soft. Add the potatoes, cauliflower and tomatoes and sautee for 10 mins.
4. Add enough water to soak all the vegetables and add the paste to them and mix well.
5. Close the lid of the pan and let the vegetables steam and get cooked in the water and paste until well done. Add water as needed.
   
6. Garnish with fresh corriander and serve hot with puris for the ultimate comfort meal:)
   

Kothimbir Vadi

Kothimbir vadi is supposedly a very popular and typical Maharashtrian dish although I don't remember my mom making it of eating it too much. It is the maharashtrian equivalent of dhokla and quite tasty. This is a relatively healthier version of the dish. I follow Nupur's recipe closely with a few variations and was very happy with the outcome.

Ingredients:

1. Besan - 1 cup
2. Rice flour - 2 tbsps
3. Wheat flour - 2 tbsps
4. Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
5. Jeera-dhania powder - 1 tsp
   
6. Green chillies - 4 or 5 ground into a paste + 4-5 sliced thinly
   
7. Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
8. Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
9. Salt
10. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Lemon - 1
12. Olive oil - 1 tsp + 3-4 tsps
13. Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
14. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
15. Jeera - 1 tsp
16. Hing - 1/tsp+1/2tsp
17. Corriander - 2 cups finely chopped
18. Curry leaves - 10
    
19. Water
    

Directions:

1. Mix the flours, corriander, 1/2 tsp hing, green chilli paste, red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, sesame seeds, salt, jeera dhania powder, 1/2 lemon's juice, 1/2 tsp hing and water to make a smooth thick batter.
2. Pour the batter into a greased pan and steam for 15 minutes until it is cooked. Let it cool and cut into small pieces.
   
3. Heat oil in a pan and sautee the pieces a little on each side, lightly till they turn brown and crisp. Drain on a paper towel.
4. Heat 1 tsp oil and to it add mustard seeds, jeera, hing, green chillies and curry leaves and let them turn crisp. Sprinkle over the cut and fried pieces and sprinkle some corriander and lemon juice and serve hot.
   

Sabudana Khichdi

This is a Maharashtrian staple for days when you are fasting. Although I never understood how it is called fasting with such high carb diet on the day, but I am not complaining:). This is my mom's recipe and I sometimes combine a little ghee with oil to make it healthier but nothing can beat the taste and flavour when it is cooked in ghee. We eat it with raw green or red chillies and a little salt. Others eat it with yogurt.

Ingredients:

1. Sabudana - 3 cups (wash in water and soak with a little water overnight)
   
2. Potatoes - 2, sliced into small pieces
   
3. Roasted peanut powder - 1.5 cup
4. Green chillies - 7/8 chopped
5. Ghee - 2 tsps
6. Jeera - 1.2 tsp
7. Milk - 1/2 cup
8. Salt
9. Sugar - 1/4th tsp
10. Lemon - 1/2
    

Directions:

1. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the jeera and chillies. Roast until done and add the sliced potatoes.
2. Add some salt to the potatoes and cook until well roasted.
3. Add the sabudana, peanut powder, salt and sugar and mix in. Add a little of the milk to soften if required.
4. Mix well and cook until it steams well. Sprinkle lemon juice and enjoy with chillies or yogurt.
   

Gudi Padwa

I made the usual gudi padwa spread this year except for the gulab jamuns that I usually make. I posted the recipes before on my Gudi Padwa Recipes post. Happy new year to all of you:)

Vada Pav

Vada Pav, a bombay roadside delicacy that is the most favourite snack of my mum's. There are several variants of the vada itself and this recipe is of course what my mom makes. Pair a hot vada with a well toasted pav, mint and tamarind chutney and the chilli-garlic powder and trust me it can beat any pizza or pasta. To me the chilli-garlic chutney (kandya lasnachi chutney) is an essential ingredient and my folks got it for me from India. Vada pav isn't the same without this:D:D

Ingredients:

For chilli chutney that goes in the vada filling

1. Green chillies - 10
2. Corriander leaves - 1 bunch
3. Ginger - 1 inch
4. Garlic - 3/4 pods
5. Salt

For filling

1. Potatoes - 3/4 big, boiled and mashed
2. Onions - 1, finely chopped
3. Chilli chutney - 3 tbsps
4. Salt
   

For batter

1. Besan - 1 1/2 cup
2. Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
3. Salt
4. Water

For frying

1. A frying pan full of vegetable oil

For final assembly

1. Pav - slit into half and toasted with a little butter
2. Mint chutney
3. Tamarind chutney
4. Chilli-garlic powder

Directions:

1. Grind all the ingredients for the green chilli chutney together

2. Mix the ingredients for the filling together and make into small balls

3. Mix the ingredients for the batter together and dip the potato ball in it and then deep fry until golden brown

4. Put the fried vada in between the slit pav along with the chutneys and eat hot!!

Alu Poha / Pohe

This is a very typical Maharashtrian snack/breakfast that is healthy and yummy. It is made from poha which is essentially flattened rice. Health freaks can also make this with brown poha which is high in fiber and olive oil and can skip the potato. This can also be relished with roasted peanuts and a raw green chilli for those who enjoy spice. I sometimes add ginger in the tadka but that is optional too. I do not have a pic for this yet simply because I never thought of posting this recipe assuming that it is something everyone would already know. This recipe is in response to a request from a special friend who remembers my mom making it and would love to have the recipe...;)...Good luck Vinitha!

Ingredients:

1. Thick poha - 2 cups
2. Potato - 1 big or 2 small ones - Diced into thin slices about 1 inch long
   
3. Onion - 1 small one - finely diced into slices - not chopped
4. Ginger - 1 tsp chopped (optional)
   
5. Tomato - 1 - chopped
   
6. Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp
7. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
8. Jeera - 1 tsp
9. Green chillies - 2/3 finely chopped
10. Curry leaves - 5/6
11. Lemon - 1
12. Salt
13. Turmeric - 1/4th tsp
14. Cilantro - 2 tbsps finely chopped
    

Directions:

1. Wash the poha in water and keep aside. Make sure you drain the excess water
   
2. Heat oil and to it add the mustard seeds, jeera, turmeric, green chillies and curry leaves and let the mustard seeds sputter.
3. Add the oinions and saute until golden brown.
4. Saute the potato until soft and cooked.
5. Add in the tomato and saute until cooked.
6. Now add in the poha, which should be soft by now and salt and mix well.
   
7. Let this steam until the smell of raw poha goes away.
   
8. Sprinkle lemon juice, garnish with cilantro and enjoy hot!
   

Gudi Padwa Recipes - Neem Chutney, Amti, Cauliflower-Peas Sabji and Mango Rice

Gudi Padwa is coming up and this will my first one in the new house. I am looking forward to celebrating it grandly. There are some very typical recipes associated with the festival and will be posting there here soon:)


---- Follow up ( Pics will get added once I locate my camera charger)---------

Recipe 1 - Neem chutney

Ingredients:

1. Chana dal - 1 cup
2. Green chillies
3. Curry leaves - 4 or 5
4. Dried red chillies - 2 or 3
5. Tender neem leaves or neem flowers - 2 teaspoons
6. Asafoetida - 2 pinches
7. Salt
8. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
9. Oil - 1 teaspoon
10. Corriander leaves - handful
    

Directions:

1. Soak the chana dal overnight
2. Grind the dal with green chillies, salt, corriander leaves
3. Heat oil and put in mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chillies. Garnish chutney with this.
4. I usually separate out a little chutney and add the tender neem leaves or fried neem flowers to it. The rest can be enjoyed without the bitterness.

Recipe 2 - Amti : Amti is a traditional maharashtrian dal which is a staple part of every meal.

Ingredients:

1. Toor dal - 2 cups
2. Turmeric - 1 pinch
3. Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
4. Jeera - 1 teaspoon
5. Oil - 1 tablespoon
6. Amsol or Kokam - 3-4 (This is a very typical ingredients used in some Maharashtrian and Konkani dishes )
7. Corriander leaves - handful, chopped
8. Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
9. Kala Masala - 1 teaspoon (This is again a very typical Marathi masala. I use the Joshi brand )
10. Salt
11. Asafoetida - 1 pinch
    

Directions:

1. Pressure cook the toor dal and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in and add mustard seeds, jeera, turmeric, asafoetida and wait until the mustard sputters.
3. Add the cooked toor dal, kokum, salt, chilli powder, kala masala and let the dal boil for 15 mins.
4. Garnish with corriander and serve with hot rice!

Tips: Variations of this amti are yummy too - I love the addition of brinjal, drumsticks and my favourtie is the one with pressure cooked jackfruit seeds.

Recipe 3 - Cauliflower/Peas sabji : This is a very simple sabji that I make on a regular basis.

Ingredients:

1. Medium sized cauliflower - cut into small chunks
2. Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
   
3. Frozen peas - 1 cup
4. Salt
   
5. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
7. Jeera - 1 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
   
9. Vegetable oil - 1 tsp

Directions:

1. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, jeera, turmeric, green chillies and let the mustard seeds sputter.
2. Add the cauliflower and salt and saute until soft.
3. Add peas and chilli powder and let it cook for 5 more mins.
4. Garnish with lemon and corriander leaves.

Recipe 4 - Mango Rice (Chitranna): This is basically "lemon rice meets raw mango". A very simple yet delightful way of enjoying summer's arrival.

Ingredients:

1. Basmati rice - 1 cup (any rice is ok)
2. Raw mango - 1, grated
3. Lemons - 1 or 2
4. Salt
5. Green chillies - 2
6. Red dried chillies - 2
7. Curry leaves - 7 or 8
   
8. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
9. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
10. Urad Dal - 1 tsp
11. Chana Dal - 1 tsp
12. Oil - 1 1/2 tsp
    

Directions:

1. Cook rice and keep aside. Make sure it is not over cooked and grains are separate.
2. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, turmeric, green chillies, red chillies, curry leaves, urad dal and chana dal and stir fry until the urad dal turns golden brown.
3. Add the cooked rice, grated mango and salt and let it steam.
4. Take the rice off the stove and sprinkle lemon juice. Enjoy with raita!
   

Tila Chi Vadi

"Tilgul ghya ani god god bola"....Happy Sankranti to all of you!!! This is a special sweet made for Sankranti and the recipe is of course my mums. My sis and hubby loved it and hogged on it though it didn't come out to be perfect.



Ingredients:

1. 1 cup peanuts


2. 1 cup sesame seeds


3. 1 cup dry coconut


4. 1 cup jaggery


5. Green cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon

Directions:

1. Roast the peanuts, sesame seeds and dry coconut separately until golden brown.


2. Grind the peanuts to a fine powder and the sesame seeds to a coarse powder.
   


3. Heat the jaggery with couple of tablespoons of water until you get a thick syrup.


4. Grease a shallow plate to set the vadi in.
   


5. Mix in the peanut powder, coarsely ground sesame seeds and coconut into the syrup. Add cardamom powder and mix thoroughly.


6. Spread mixture evenly onto the place and cut diamond shapes before it cools down.


7. Allow it to cool and set and enjoy.

Note: The way this turns out depends a lot on what kind of jaggery you use. If you use less sticky one, it comes out better. The one I used wasn't the right one and it didnt really set well but who cares!!! :D:D Also, make sure your syrup is really thick before you add in the mixture otherwise it will stay moist and not harden enough.

Ukadiche Modak / Kozhakattai

Come Ganesh Chaturti and my hubby starts fantasizing about modaks or kozhakattai as they call it in Tamil. My mom makes them with a sugar-coconut stuffing but my MIL makes it with a jaggery-coconut stuffing. So, i eventually end up making both :) .....More modaks were never a bad thing eh! :D Enjoy the recipe.


Stuffing:

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup grated fresh/frozen coconut (not dried coconut)
2) 3/4th cup sugar/jaggery
3) 1/2 teaspoon cardomom powder


Directions:

Heat a pan and start warming up the coconut. Once it is warmed up (not screaming hot/burning), add the sugar/jaggery and heat till it melts and mixes with the coconut. Turn off the gas/burner and add in the cardamom powder and mizx thoroughly. Let it rest for a few minutes

Modak Covering :

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup rice flour
2) 1 cup water
3) 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Add salt to water and boil. Once it is boiling with bubbles rising, add the rice flour to it and stir continuously while the heat is still on. The objective is to cook the rice flour a little and you can see that it is cooked when it stop looking like four and starts looking more like dough. Get the dough off the heat and dump it onto a working surface. The trick is to start kneading it while it is still hot. If you are scared of burning it wait a couple of minutes. Oil yours hands a little before you start kneading to prevent it from sticking to your hands.


Modak making procedure: Make a ball half the size of a tt ball and flatten it into a circular disk. Place a spoonful of the coconut mixture into the dish and try closing in the ends of the circular disk. Once you have them together, mould the top to be pointy and place aside. Keep your hands well oiled to prevent sticking.

Now place all the modaks into a steamer and steam until the outer covering turns translucent. Eat with some ghee if you aren't on a diet. Enjoy!!!

Vada (Aama Vadai) and Coconut Rice (Narali Bhat)

Aama Vadai

Ingredients:

1) Chana Dal - 1 cup
2) Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
3) Urad Dal - 1/2 cup
4) Ginger - 1 inch long
5) Green chillies - 5-6 (or more if you like it spicy)
6) Curry leaves - 10
7) Salt
8) Oil to deep fry


Directions:

1) Soak the toor dal and urad dal together and the chana dal separately for a few hours (overnight).
2) Grind the toor dal and urad dal together to a fine paste in the mixer along with the ginger and green chillies. The mixture should be thick with less water. Now grind part of the chana dal with this mixture and mix in the rest of chana dal as it is.
3) Chop the curry leaves finely and mix it in. Add salt to taste.
4) Heat oil and deep fry vada shaped balls of the mixture. (The shape should be flatter than what you see in the pictures, kind of like medu vada)
Enjoy this hot with ketchup or chatni!



Coconut Rice

Ingredients:

1) Basmati Rice - 1 cup
2) Jaggery - 3/4th cup
3) Elaichi pods - 3 or 4
4) Cloves - 3 or 4
5) Peppercorns - 5 or 6
6) Ghee - 1 or 2 spoons
7) Cashews - 10 to 15
8) Raisins - 10 to 15
9) Freshly grated coconut - 1 cup


Directions:

1) Heat the ghee and saute the cashews in it till light brown and keep aside.
2) Start cooking the rice separately until it is almost done but not too well done.
3) In the same ghee saute the elaichi, cloves and peppercorns. When you feel the flavour rising from them add the coconut and jaggery and saute till all the jaggery melts.
4) Add this mixture to the almost done rice, along with cashews and raisins and mix it up well so that the jaggery gels in with all the rice.
5) Steam it for 15 minutes and serve with something spicy to contrast the sweetness.


Note: I have never had the combination of vada and coconut rice together before. This was the first and they make a good combo especially if you don't have a sweet tooth. The sweet coconut rice can also be eaten with a pickle.

Ram Namavi

What you see above is the stuff that i made for Ram Navami
1) Neer Moar
2) Panagam
3) Sundal

Gudi Padwa

Here are pics of the stuff that I made for Gudi Padwa. (Chatni with neem flowers, gulab jamun, amti, potato curry, koshimbir of tomato and onion, varan-bhat, mango rice). I am not putting up any recipes here for these, but if interested email me for the recipes.

Puran

I made this yesterday for Holi. Traditionally puran poli is made but I didnt find the time for it. Maybe next time!

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup chana daal
2) 1 1/2 cup water
3) Elaichi powder (2-3 elaichies)
4) 1 cup sugar
5) 1/2 spoon ghee

Directions:

1) Pressure cook chana daal just a little and drain excess water
2) Added sugar to chana daal and cook on low heat till the mixture starts thickening
3) Add elaichi powder and stir it in and cook some more
4) Once in the serving plate, garnish with ghee and serve hot

Credits: Again, mom's recipe and her suggestion to make it for Holi. So thanx to her for that and all the other times she has made puran and puran poli and "kata chi amti" from the excess water that comes out of cooking the chana daal. :)