Love at first bite..

Restaurant Review: Pronti Bistro in Needham, MA

2011-11-16T09:54:00.000-08:00

Contact info:

Pronti Bistro
11 Second Ave. Needham, MA 02494, 781-455-8555
On Facebook

Price: $10-15 per person

AshaCool Recommends: Salted Lassi that soothes the soul! and of course Paneer, Chicken, Aloo roll with mango chutney which is pretty hutke

Story: The first reason to love Pronti - the name! Regular parantha is large, sumptuous and manly.. how about a smaller version of our beloved Parantha.. as a wrap. Since it is a petite parantha, we decided to call it "Pronti" - how cute is that!

Friendly service, cozy decor and apna authentic desi touch - Owners Maneet and Raman have done a great job with their brand new set up in Needham.

But what about the food?? yeah yeah - I am getting there..

Paneer was nicely spiced and really tender, chicken and lamb was quite good as well. Of course the thing that makes a difference in a wrap - is the chutneys.. the mango chutney is a great combo of sweet, tangy and spicy taste.

The salted lassi is to die for - may be on the salty side for some people - but I loved it. Could easily drink a gallon of it.

With every wrap, you get a small piece of their home made brownie - it is moist, sweet and the top is perfectly textured.

Granted I haven't tried many of the menu items - eggs, rice platters etc.. but I was impressed enough that I had to share my experience!

BTW - I went with my school crowd and here's a silly video where everyone's trying to do the famous Indian nod.

Saag Uday Paneer

2011-08-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Story: What is your definition of true love? Is it the filmy laau that gets you a red heart shaped balloon and chocolates on Valentine's day? Or is it the casual love you feel everyday? The kind of love that does not have the burden of expectations, the kind of love that goes without saying the cliched "I love you" 25 times a day...

One thing is sure.. Uday Naik's love for Saag Paneer goes beyond any definitions! Who is Uday Naik? - a Friend, philosopher and local guardian for a couple of grad students who moved to USA a decade ago. He also happens to be my brother in law :P

Uday always orders saag paneer in an Indian restaurant. Every Friday's desi take out automatically includes saag paneer. We are all tired of seeing him eat saag paneer.. but Uday's excitement about saag paneer is the same - every single time!

Reminds me of the Rafi-Lata song:

Source: My mom - inspired by one of SK Guruji's recipe

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients: for 4 people

2 bunches of baby spinach
3 inch square of paneer cut into 1 cm cubes
2 tbsp cream
1 tbsp ghee or butter
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves of garlic - shredded or minced
1/2 tsp sugar (optional - it is my Maharashtrian gene)
salt to taste

Recipe: The beauty of this recipe is in its simplicity. Short list of ingredients, pure spinach taste and the dashing green color. But if you are looking for the ghisa-pita restaurant style saag paneer - this ain't it. You will either love this recipe or hate it..

Here goes it:

Blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water for half a minute. Remove them and immediately place them in ice cold water to lock in the beautiful green color. Squeeze out extra water from the leaves and grind them into fine paste.

Heat ghee in a pan. Add cumin seeds to the hot ghee. Once cumin seeds turn brown in color, add the minced garlic and saute for half a minute. Add the spinach paste, salt and sugar. Saute for half a minute. Add 1 tbsp of cream and mix well.

Add the paneer cubes, cover and cook for about a minute.

Serve hot and garnish with the other tbsp of cream.

Restaurant Review: Sichuan Gourmet in Framingham and Billerica, MA

2011-08-14T19:20:00.001-07:00

Contact info:

Sichuan Gourmet
502 Boston Post Road, Billerica, MA 01821, 978-670-7339
271 Worcester Road (Rte. 9), Framingham, MA 01701, 508-626-0248
1004-1006 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02446, 617-477-4226
386-388 South Main Street, Sharon, MA 02067, 781-784-2833

Price: $10-15 per person

AshaCool (a fish eating cat) Recommends: Jin Gu Fish Fillets, Gangou dry fish aka Xiang La dry fish, Spicy string beans

Jin Gu Fish Curry - yes those are dry red chilies on top

Note: The amount of hot curry in Jin Gu fish is more than enough for four people. It will be way too much for two people. I have had Jin Gu fish in Framingham and in Billerica - The Billerica one in my opinion has a superior taste.

Gangou Dry Fish with Sichuan Peppercorns

Story: Are you always complaining about the low spice level in the US? Are you tired of the predictable taste and menu in a Chinese restaurant in the US? Do you crave for smoking hot food? If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions.. Sichuan Gourmet is for you!

Here are a few reasons for loving this joint:

The taste is super spicy, hot and delicious
This is one of very few places where I can eat spiced up fish preparations in the US
My Chinese friends say the food is "pretty close" to authentic Sichuan cuisine. So I can brag about it too :-P

Apart from the two fish recommendations, I have tried their lamb and beef dishes also - and they are equally delicious. The meat is extremely tender and perfectly spiced. After this hot and sassy meal you may want to visit an ice-cream place to balance things out a bit.

Map:

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BCBG Pesarattu

2011-05-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

Story: Sometimes you read the name of a store or a product and you know exactly what to expect when you go there. For example - a thela in Pune is called "मस्त वडा!" or take the "Kathi Roll Company" of New York.

and then there are brand names that seem too hard to pronounce - forget trying to understand the meaning.. like BCBG MaxAzria. I have been tormented by the name of this store for a while. I finally decided to follow Bart Simpson's advice and Googled the name and guess what.. it is actually quite meaningful. BCBG is a French acronym that stands for bon chic bon genre or ("good style, good class"). The rest of it, as expected is the name of the designer.

Connection to Pesarattu? - well - first time I saw Pesarattu on a restaurant menu, it was called "MLA Pesarattu" One of those names that intrigued me too much. After not much Googling I found that the term MLA comes from the fact that Pesarattu+Upma combination is very popular in the MLA quarters area of Hyderabad.

Source: Vah Chef and my friend Anu Pisal
Time: 6 hours for soaking ingredients and about an hour for cooking
Ingredients: for 4 people

2 cups of whole moong daal (green gram)
1 cup of rice
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (help with fermentation)
water for soaking
1 cup of cooked rice (great way to use left-over rice)
2 Green chilies
1 inch of ginger - cut into small pieces
1 clove of garlic - cut into halves

Recipe:

The reason I love this recipe is that you don't need to ferment the batter overnight. Just soak the rice, moong daal and fenugreek seeds in water for 6 hours.

Remove water from the soaked rice-daal mixture, grind this mixture with cooked rice, green chilies, ginger, garlic and salt to taste. Grind the mixture into a really fine paste.

You can make Pesarattu right away - the process is just like dosai or for more fermentation you can keep the batter covered for an hour or two and then use it.

Add a garnish of finely chopped onions, ginger, chilies etc while making pesarattu to enhance the taste. and also try it with Aalam chutney as Vah Chef recommends:

Red Pepper Asparagus Soup - with a Thai touch

2011-04-26T06:11:00.000-07:00

Story: Sometimes you can instantly identify with a movie character... for example.. I can totally identify with Samwise Gamgee (his love of food) of The Lord Of the Rings. No matter how grave the situation is.. Sam will always have a little something in his bag-pack. Or he will be busy cooking something on a fire - even if the fire puts his master Frodo at risk.. :-)

Most of all - Sam - just like me - loves versatile ingredients. Just look at the passion with which he talks about Po-Te-Toes

These days I am in love with roasted red peppers. Put them in salad with Avocado, or serve them as a topping for pasta and pizza - or - Boil'em, Mash'em, stick'em in a stew.. :-D

For a Thai touch - add red pepper, coconut milk and powdered roasted peanuts. I think Thai Basil will taste good as well.. will try that next time.. for now - we move on to the recipe..

Source: AshaCool kitchen

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: for serving 4-6 people

Purée of 3 roasted red peppers
Purée of 4-6 steamed asparagus stems
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp powdered roasted peanuts
1/2 tsp thai red hot sauce
1/2 tsp ginger paste
Salt to taste
Optional - for added flavor - you could float a bouquet garni of your favorite herbs and spices while boiling the soup. I used garam masala ingredients tied in a muslin cloth.

Recipe:

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a soup pan. Once the oil is hot, add asparagus purée and red pepper purée and saute for half a minute. Add Coconut milk and mix well for 1/2 minute. Add powdered roasted peanuts, ginger paste and hot sauce and mix well. Add salt to taste.

Add the bouquet garni at this point if you want. Cover the soup pan and let the soup simmer on low-medium heat for at least 15 minutes.

Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves and coconut milk. This will go really well with Thai fried rice or noodles.

Restaurant Review: Red Lentil in Watertown, MA

2011-04-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

Contact info:

The Red Lentil
600 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown, MA 02472, 617-972-9188
On Facebook

Price: $10-15 per person

AshaCool Recommends: Beet-Potato Latkes, Sweet Potato Quesadilla, Gobi Manchurian

Story: Unicorns do exist!! That was my reaction when I talked to Chef Siva of the Red Lentil restaurant. We were getting super-stressed while planning food logistics for an upcoming conference. We have roughly 150 attendees and the following constraints on food:

Local - grown in New England - which means - no rice or wheat and many other ingredients that you may take for granted
Organic - of course - what other kind is there?
Within a modest budget - we are a volunteer organization that takes pride in simplicity
Indian-ish - and tasty!
Delivery with minimal waste in terms of plastic usage etc etc

I called Chef Siva of The Red Lentil restaurant and he happily agreed to deliver based on these constraints. It sounded too good to be true.. so we went to visit the restaurant.

We ordered Gobi Manchurian and got free samples for Mediterranean wrap, Sweet Potato Quesadilla and Beet Potato Latkes. Every single thing was delicious!! What's more - Chef Siva came up with brand new menu items based on our constraints and all of them sounded appetizing.

The conference is not done yet and we haven't even placed the catering order - but the foodie in me is thoroughly impressed by the culinary creativity, the passion for local and organic food and the price!

Since I am on a Bollywood spree these days.. the whole experience reminded me of this line from Ghulaam: "लेहेरों के साथ तो कोईभी तैर लेता है। पर असली इन्सान वोह है - जो लेहेरों को चीर कर आगे बढ़ता है!"

Map:

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Smoky Tomato Red Pepper Salsa

2011-04-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

Story: Ignorance is bliss?? I don't think so.. What's worse? Over-confidence and ignorance.. it can hurt you.. quite literally..

Many years ago I picked up a few chilies from the grocery store to try different flavors. They looked very colorful - some were orange, some parrot green. I was planning to cook up some exotic salad. Being a proud देसी/Indian I was super confident about handling the spice level of - ANYTHING I can buy in a typical American grocery store.

Next thing I know, my palms have a burning sensation, my eyes are watering while cutting these new chilies I got.. I wash my hands with soap and then wipe my eyes with the same hand.. Aaarrrgh!! my eyes start burning now.. I am going - "WHAT IS THIS CHILLI?" - I had not bothered to even look at the name..

I heard a voice - "रिश्तेमें तो हम तुम्हारे बाप लगते है! नाम है - Habanero peppers!"

When used in moderation.. the same peppers add a very enjoyable kick to this smoky salsa.

Source: AshaCool kitchen (Inspired by a recipe from Silvana Franco)
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

2 tomatoes - smoked on flame till the skin becomes black and starts separating from the tomato
1 large red pepper - smoked on flame
1 Habanero pepper
1 tsp crushed black pepper
2 tbsp vinegar
1 clove of garlic
Handful coriander leaves finely cut
Salt to taste
1 green chilli finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil

Recipe:

Blend half of the smoked red pepper, 1 tomato, garlic, green chilli, olive oil and black pepper. Thinly chop the remaining tomato and red pepper and add to the mixture. Add coriander leaves, vinegar and salt to taste.

I try and minimize direct contact with the Habanero pepper :-) So I stick a fork in the Habanero and smoked it directly on flame. Then I dipped this fork with Habanero in the salsa and let it sit in the salsa for 10 ish minutes.

You get the heat of the Habanero just at the right level.. Enjoy with your favorite tortilla chips!

Gujarathi Kadhi-Khichadi

2011-03-31T18:27:00.000-07:00

Story: Sometimes you meet a couple and you think - They are simply made for each other! It's "Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love" (SATC) - the kind of love that shouts - हम बने तुम बने एक दूजे के लिए!

what? "You don't know what I say?" - I am talking about the eternal love between Vada-Paav, Daal-baati or in this case - Kadhi-Khichadi!! - "दे s s आ s र मेड फॉर ईच आदर - समझे?"

Source: Rupangi, thanks for introducing me to this wonderful duo! :-)

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: for 4 people - (for a meal with Kadhi-Khichadi alone)

Khichadi

1.5 cup rice
1.5 cup masoor daal or skinned orange lentil
1.5 tsp crushed gud/jaggery
1 tbsp oil for tadka
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4-5 curry leaves
1 dry red chilli
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
optional but recommended - peanuts and mixed veggies for added flavor
salt to taste
4 cups of water

Tip: Use panch poran combo for tadka - taste of Kalaunji and Saunf in the tadka make the khichadi very tasty - the combo includes - 1/2 tsp each of mustard seeds, onion seeds, fennel, and coriander seeds along with a pinch of fenugreek seeds

Kadhi

3 cups of yogurt
2 tbsp besan/gram flour
1 tsp ginger paste
Salt
Sugar is a must - in fact many people add gud/jaggery for Gujju taste
1 green chilli
3 cups of water
For tadka - 2 tsp ghee
4-5 curry leaves
6 cloves
couple of pepper corns
2-3 tsp of cumin seeds
1 inch cinnamon
1 tsp kasoori methi

Recipe:

For khichadi - soak rice and daal in water for about 15 mins or so. Drain all the water when you are ready to make khichadi. Heat oil in a pan and make tadka with mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric powder and dry red chilli.

When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add peanuts and ginger-garlic paste. Saute for half a minute. Start heating 4 cups of water in another pot. Then add soaked rice and daal and saute for about two minutes on medium heat. Add the veggies at this point and mix well.

Water must be hot by now, transfer it to the rice-daal mixture. Now add salt, gud and cover the pan. Let the khichadi cook for 20+ minutes on low-medium heat. The key is that masoor daal should be completely cooked.

For kadhi, I put yogurt, small pieces of green chilli, ginger paste, salt, sugar and besan in a counter top blender - such as magic bullet. Everything gets mixed perfectly in less than half a minute (I know I sound like the infomercial).

Then I add water to the yogurt and mix really well. Transfer in a pot and start heating this mixture on low-medium heat. Key here is to not let the yogurt separate from the mixture. So you need to keep stirring from time to time. As the mixture heats up, cover the pot for half a minute so that besan gets cooked. Once the mixture gets close to its boiling point, lower the heat and make tadka in a small pan.

For tadka, heat ghee and then add cumin seeds, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, and curry leaves. Once the cumin seeds turn brown, transfer the tadka to the Kadhi pot and mix well. Garnish with kasoori methi - adds a very nice flavor. Cover the pot and let the Kadhi simmer for half a minute.

Serve hot with your favorite papad and achar...

Puran Poli

2011-03-23T06:58:00.000-07:00

Story: My policy about Puran Poli - खाईन तर तूपाशी, नाही तर उपाशी! If I will eat a meal, it will be with ghee or I won't eat at all!

Don't you agree? - If something's worth doing - it is worth doing right - if you want to eat Puran Poli - stop thinking about calories.. drench the sweet poli in pure desi ghee.. (or milk if you like it that way) and enjoy the feeling. Otherwise - why eat Puran Poli at all? :-)

I will pay my dues in the gym, compensate with lots of salad in other meals - but for certain special meals - I want the real deal or nothing at all!

Why worry about sugar-free, fat-free - छोडो ना यार - sometimes you ought to be care-free :-)

On that note - let's hog on some garama-garam Holi-Poli - Puran Poli - shall we?

Source: Evolved version of my Mom's recipe
Time: 6 hours - preferably split over two days
Ingredients: for 20 Puran Polis

1 cup chana daal
1 cup jaggery - shredded or sliced finely
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
3-4 saffron strands
1 cup aata or wheat flour
1/2 cup maida or all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk mixed with a few saffron strands
1/2 cup Oil

Recipe:

Day 1: Puran recipe

Cook chana daal in the pressure cooker with two cups of water. For the right consistency of puran it is very important that to cook the daal thoroughly. Once this is done, save the extra water from cooked daal to make कटाची आमटी - a special daal with puran flavor.

Heat a non-stick pan on slow-medium flame. Add cooked daal and jaggery. Stir this mixture constantly till jaggery is melted and mixed with daal completely. Add sugar to the mixture and keep stirring (I missed patience in the ingredient list). You need to continue stirring for about 10-15 minutes till the puran becomes dry and sticks to the sides of the pan. Mash the puran the best you can while stirring it to get smooth consistency. Test the right consistency this way - if you stick a tea-spoon in the puran, it should stand straight up. चमचा उभा राहीला पाहिजे! In India we use a special machine - पूरण यंत्र to make the puran extra soft. Being away from home - this is my way of compensating for it.

Turn the heat off. Add nutmeg powder, cardamom powder and saffron strands and stir well for 3-5 minutes.

Puran is done - let it cool. Then store it in air tight container in the fridge.

Day 2: Making aata and poli

Sift the aata and maida through a fine sieve. Mix in saffron milk and water as needed to make a stiff dough. Keep it covered for an hour or so.

Then add a pinch of salt, a touch of water and knead the dough thoroughly. As it becomes soft, add oil one tbsp at a time and keep kneading till the dough incorporates the oil. By the end of this process the dough should have an elastic, stretchy and super-soft consistency.

Now you are ready to make the poli..

Make puran balls of roughly 1 inch diameter each and keep them covered so they don't become dry. Take a small lemon size portion of aata and very little oil on your fingers. With both hands hold the aata ball and push your thumbs inside while shaping the sides with your fingers alone. This should turn the aata ball into an aata bowl. Place the puran ball in the aata bowl and close it similar to aloo parantha. Coat this puran-aata ball with a little bit of maida and press with hand to flatten it a bit. This will spread the puran uniformly. Now roll this into a thin Puran Poli as usual with your rolling pin.

Roast on hot tawa/pan for roughly 20 secs on each side or till the poli gets brown spots. Add ghee while heating the poli if you plan to eat it fresh.. otherwise add ghee just before serving. If you have potato sabji and katachi aamti to go with it - that's perfect!

Chutnified Avocado Panini

2011-03-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

Story: Today's post is in Hinglish... for those who gungunao- 'Say na - say na how u saiditoomi'

What yaa.. eating Avocado is pukka healthy ha.. good fat I tell you. But tastes soo pheeka re.. no taste only. So total fundoo idea I got.. why not - chutney-fy the Avocado?

I to always keep chatpataa teekha chutney in the fridge.. Dubaofied the avocado pieces into the chutney with lots of neembu ka ras - made it totally chutnified.

Junta was super khush re.. matlab.. grilled panini mein spicy twist ho gaya na..

Source: AshaCool kitchen

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: for 4 sandwiches

1 Avocado cut into thin slices
1/2 cup mint chutney
Juice of half a lemon
1 medium to large onion cut into thin slices
1 red pepper cut into thin slices
1 tsp oil
Panini style bread
little bit butter (optional)

Recipe:

Smother the Avocado slices in chutney and lemon juice, keep aside. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and saute the red pepper and onion slices till they caramelize. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

That's it - make a sandwich with the panini bread slices, about 1 tbsp of the onion-pepper mixture and 2-3 slices of chutnified avocado.

Toast the sandwich in a pan with or without butter till the bread becomes golden brown.

Souperhit Tip for Tomato Soup

2011-03-08T06:02:00.000-08:00

Story: La Porte des Indes is the Maggi hot-n-sweet tomato chilli sauce of Indian resturants - It's different! My cousin - Madhi (Madhuvanti Achawal) - more than insisted that we eat there and I am so glad we took that recommendation to heart. The decor is drop-dead-gorgeous, the service is unpretentious yet professional and the menu has a really good variety of items - including lots of coastal fish curries, sampler of Parsee food etc. It is pricey and fancy- but a it is a real treat.

I was so impressed by the food that I wanted to buy their cookbook.. but we had already splurged so much on the dinner and on the UK trip.. I din't buy the book. So how did I get the cookbook and today's soup recipe?

real simple - after dinner I called Madhi and told her how awesome the meal was.. and how tempting it was to buy the book... :D and sure enough - on Madhi's next trip to the US - I got the cookbook as a gift!

Really - I don't do this on purpose - but way back when.. I had called my brother right after seeing an iPod for the first time.. and I did get an iPod from him for my birthday :-)

hmmm.. while I think about other things I could get from my wonderful family.. why don't I share this souperhit tip that makes the usual tomato soup - souperbly different!

Source: La porte des indes cookbook by Mehernosh and Sherin Mody

Tip: Add roasted red pepper and roasted garlic cloves to your usual recipe of tomato soup for red color and flavor. Roasted garlic adds a nice kick to the soup. As far as proportion is concerned - I used one red pepper and slices of three garlic cloves for two medium size tomatoes.

Ratalyacha Kees - Sweet Potato Snack

2011-03-02T06:08:00.000-08:00

Story: Wow!. Switching to a real ;-) job can keep you from blogging for a month or more.. I recently changed jobs and got so busy with the new one that blogging had to take a back seat. Now that I am learning to manage my time a bit better.. I am back! I have missed you and and your comments for the last month...

ok - now let's get on with the story..

Today's story is dedicated to good-old Bollywood.. not the Bollywood that brings us movies like No one killed Jessica.. but the DabanGG Bollywood where you have actors dancing around trees, where a movie almost always has a song celebrating a festival - any major one like Diwali, Eid or Christmas will do.. but even a festival like Mahashivratri works - the actors can get drunk! and if a festival like Holi provides a situation where the Heroine (lead actress) has an opportunity to get drenched.. of course - Bollywood welcomes that!!

Connection with Ratalyacha kees? - This sweet potato snack is usually made for upwas.. or a fast. Today is Mahashivratri - one of the major fasting days where you hog on fast-proof food - yeah - it's complicated - read my other post on Sabudana khichadi for a little more info. Anyway - we love to eat ratalyacha kees with its fast-proof friends - banana, taak/chhas/buttermilk, and sweet lemon pickle as a brunch meal.

To bolo Jai Jai Shiv Shankar...

Source: Aai

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

2 medium size sweet potatoes - peeled and shredded
1 green chilli - slit into two halves
pinch of red chili powder
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp oil
pinch of hing/asafoetida
1/2 cup crushed roasted peanuts
finely chopped coriander and shredded coconut for garnish
juice of half a lemon
salt to taste

Recipe:
Make sure you put the shredded sweet potato in water so that it does not lose its color and stays some what crunchy.

Heat oil in a pan, once the oil is hot add hing, cumin seeds and green chili and let the cumin seeds splutter. Lower the heat and drain the water from shredded sweet potato to get that ready to go.

When the cumin seeds turn brown, add shredded sweet potato, salt, and red chili powder. Mix well and saute for half a minute. Then cover the pan and keep it covered for 3-5 minutes on low heat. If some of the sweet potato gets stuck to the pan.. don't get scared - that tastes really yummy..

Once cooked, add lemon juice and mix well. It is usually not needed - but you could add very little sugar if you feel like..

Garnish with coriander and coconut and serve hot with sweet lemon pickle and chhas..

Not your average Gulab Jamun

2011-01-27T10:19:00.001-08:00

Tip: Adding a flavorful twist to Gulab Jamun

Every place has a way to localize food items.. I have heard - in Surat - if the menu says "special" it almost always involves adding dry fruits to the dish. In Konkan, Poha is served with fresh grated coconut and coriander, whereas in Indore, you'd put shev/farsan on poha. For that matter an Indori would put shev/farsan on almost anything :-).

Speaking of Indore.. this place takes "localization" to another level. Regular Jalebi - no good.. make it mawa jalebi - each Jalebi should weigh at least 1/2 pound. Same thing with Gulab Jamun.. let's make it twice or three times in size and let's add a mixture of dry fruits, saffron and cardamom in the center.. to make it Mawa Baati.

I used this idea with a ready-to-make Gulab Jamun mix. I made a mixture of ground cashew nuts and almonds. Added cardamom powder and saffron strands to the mixture. While making Gulab Jamun, I added about - half a centimeter wide ball of this mixture in the center. Rest of the Gulab Jamun recipe remained the same. Addition of this mixture did not interfere with the sponginess of the Gulab Jamun.

Ok.. now, what I made is not even close to the real Mawa Baati (D'oh! there is no mawa).
But the aromatic, flavorful surprise is just wonderful when you bite into the Gulab Jamun.

Cranberry Pickle

2011-01-19T11:16:00.000-08:00

Story: Does it ever happen to you that an idea excites you so much that you cannot sleep? When this happens, all my mind wants to do is to make plans.. glorious plans about how this idea is going to be a success... that excites my mind even more and I can spend hours thinking about this - idea. Then I wake up the next day .. and suddenly the idea is not fascinating anymore...

Unless of course I act on it.. more importantly keep acting on it and most importantly, give it the most important ingredient - TIME!

For any Indian Achar/Lonacha or pickle Time is a key ingredient. The older it gets the better it tastes... especially this cranberry achar.. with time, the hard skin of a cranberry gets tempered and the super-sour juice is infused with all the spices and the oil of the pickle....

This AshaCool recipe is a hot and spicy, long-lasting marriage of the absolutely firang cranberry with the asali desi spices.

Source: AshaCool

Time: 2-3 hours to make, 2 weeks to mature..

Ingredients:

2 cups of raw cranberries cut into halves
1 tbsp mustard seeds
4 tbsp coriander seeds
1.5 tbsp onion seeds (kalonji)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
1.5 tbsp fennel seeds (saunf/badishep)
3-4 dry red chilies (more or less as per taste)
3 cups of mustard oil
0.5 tsp hing/asafoetida

Recipe:

Dry roast all the spice seeds and dry red chillies in a pan for 2-3 minutes. Grind them into a coarse-fine mixture.

Heat the mustard oil in a pan till it reaches smoking point. To test - add a pinch of hing to hear a hissing sound. Once the oil is heated, add the rest of the hing and turn the heat off. Mix in the spice powder, stir to mix well and keep it covered till it cools down.

Once this mixture is cooled, add the cranberry pieces to this mixture and add lots of rock salt for taste. Mix well and add salt and red chili powder as per taste.

Go ahead.. indulge a little. but it takes about 10 days for the cranberries to completely integrate with the spices.. so give it time and you will reap the rewards.

The perfect companion for hot paranthas!

Insanely Awesome Chocolate Truffles

2011-01-06T06:23:00.000-08:00

Story: Happy New Year readers! - Today's post is about "the power of today".... I know you all have channel O and Dr. Phil for such things.. but hey.. 'ts the time of the year to reflect a bit.

I bet you have a cousin or an uncle or a neighbor who is older than you and a line they always have to say is "Enjoy while it lasts.. because once you ---fill the next stage of life here--- it is all downhill..". For these people what the next stage of life is - is irrelevant.

It could be..
once you are in 10th std or
once you have kids or
once your kids grow up or
once you get a job.... really .. it does not matter!

The very important point they are making is - "it is all downhill from there!"

If you think about it.. their message is quite positive actually. They are saying - they are kinda miserable in life.. but from their perspective, your life looks pretty darn good! so you should enjoy whatever your current stage of life is!!

So friends - recognize the power of today, eat this chocolate truffle that I made for new year's party and ENJOY life!

Source: story inspiration - Devanshu, recipe - Rupangi made these truffles and inspired me to follow this Ina Garten recipe

Time: 1-2 hrs

Ingredients: roughly 25 truffles of 1 inch diameter

1/2 pound good bittersweet chocolate (recommended: Lindt)
1/2 pound good semisweet chocolate (recommended: Ghiradelli)
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons orange flavored liqueur, optional (recommended: Grand Marnier)
1 tablespoon prepared coffee
1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
Confectioners' sugar
Cocoa powder

Recipe:

Chop the chocolates finely with a sharp knife. Place them in a heat-proof mixing bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it just boils. Turn off the heat and allow the cream to sit for 20 seconds. Pour the cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the bowl with chocolate. With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolates together until the chocolate is completely melted. If needed, heat the chocolate on indirect heat - e.g. on steam so that you can dissolve any leftover chocolate pieces. You want a really smooth paste of chocolate. Whisk in the orange flavored liqueur, if using, coffee, and vanilla. Set aside at room temperature for 1 hour.

With 2 teaspoons, spoon round balls of the chocolate mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roll each ball of chocolate in your hands to roughly make it round. Roll in confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, or both. - I used both . hence the strange color of the coating.

These will keep refrigerated for weeks (good luck resisting the temptation for weeks), but serve them at room temperature.

Couscous salad

2010-12-28T06:39:00.000-08:00

Story: I love the movie - 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'.... The story is about a middle-aged Greek-American woman, Toula, who falls in love with a non-Greek. What makes this movie charming is not its "ghisa-pita" plot, but the way it paints a genuine picture of an immigrant's life in America.

For example, the constant urge of an immigrant to try and relate everything they see in the US to something from their homeland. This scene - "Give me any word" captures that urge beautifully.

It is amusing to experience the same urge when we try new cuisines.. it automatically makes the Indian in me say things like - "Oh.. this Couscous.. it's exactly like Fada or Daliya or Upma"

A really funny incidence along these lines: Three of us living in three different cities (Madison, Boston, San Diego) thought that the city we lived in was exactly like our hometown Pune in India... :)

Source: My blogger friend at ParabPlace (PArticipate to Rejuvenate And Build)

Time: 11.12 am .. haha - 1 hour prep and another 30 minutes for assembly

Ingredients: For 6 - assuming you are serving the couscous as a base for fish or meat or a stew

3 cups of couscous (see the note in the recipe)
Must have: zest of two limes and the juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
one medium size red onion finely chopped
1 roasted red pepper cut into 1 inch squares
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup raisins
handful of chopped parsley
Optional - but recommended - 1/2 cup of chatpate chhole - just the chhole without red cabbage etc
salt to taste
2-3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Recipe: A note on Fada vs Couscous.. from what I have read, the cracked wheat or Fada or Daliya that you buy from Indian groceries is less processed than the couscous that you can buy in American groceries. So for similar grain sizes, couscous will take shorter time to soak as compared to Fada. I guess if you are using Fada - follow the soaking and cooking process recommended on our Kitchen Kabinet and if you are using American store bought couscous with small grain size - continue with this recipe.

Soak the couscous in 4 cups of cold water for an hour. The grain should feel soft to touch. Squeeze out extra water from the couscous. Now boil 1 cup of water, add to it the turmeric powder and coriander powder. Mix this water into the couscous. Keep this mixture covered for 15 minutes. Separate the grains with a fork.

Now add olive oil, lime zest, lime juice, all the veggies, raisins, parsley and salt. Mix well. If you have made the chatpate chhole, you can add those now.

Preferably keep this covered for a few hours before serving. Garnish with the toasted sesame seeds just before serving.

Goes very well with fish.. We had this with Swordfish Kabobs the other day.

Simply Delish Mango Relish

2010-12-17T13:30:00.000-08:00

Story: Some wise man said - "The more you learn the more you realize how little you know!".. I'd say - "The more you try different cuisines the more you learn different ways of enjoying food!". If you've read even a couple of posts from my blog, you'd know, I was brought up in a foodie family and I married into a foodier family. So trying out different combination of flavors is a routine in my kitchen..

Why am I talking about combining flavors.. well - because the first time I tried fruit with seafood was in this restaurant called Banana Leaf in California. My brother Neeraj took me there and I remember eating the Pineapple fried rice with shrimps.. I'll skip the "oohs and aaahs".. I will just say the taste is still fresh in my mind after 10-ish years. Until then I had eaten fish only in a really spicy Indian masala.. and this new thing about adding fruit and nuts to meat was an awesome revelation! and yes - I have had the Mango fried rice in many thai restaurants.. but I assure you Banana Leaf has a one of kind taste... :( :( now I am missing the taste..

Ok - so this recipe of Mango relish is simply delish.. and you can add it to - ANYTHING you feel like - I added it to grilled catfish and turned out to be a nice little twist to the Fishy Friday routine in my kitchen.

Also - With this post, I'd like to introduce a new label for the recipes on this blog - The AshaCool label. All AshaCool recipes are completely made up by me.. and they have passed the 'blogworthy' test at home!

Source: AshaCool kitchen

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: for about 2 cups of relish

1 Mango (half cut into big chunks and half cut finely into small squares)
For readers in India - Mango here means Totapuri variety of mango, or the one used in 'sakhar-amba'
1 tsp corn starch
1 cup kernels of sweet corn
1 Fresno pepper finely cut (medium size red chili whose size is between a chili and a pepper)
1 tsp butter
sugar and salt to taste

Recipe:
Cook the large chunks of mango in microwave with a little bit of water. Once these pieces are cooked, blend them with corn starch to form a binding mixture the relish.

Now heat butter in a pan, once the butter is melted, add the corn kernels and the cut red pepper. Saute till the Fresno pepper softens. Then add the mango pieces and saute for another minute. Now add the binding mixture and mix well. Heat for a couple of minutes. Add salt and sugar as per taste.

When serving with grilled fish, garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

Today, I will be trying a toast with this relish and mozzarella cheese.. will add a picture here if it tastes good.

Totapuri Cranberry Salad

2010-12-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

Story: What does an Indian mango cultivar share with the Guru of Saint Ramakrishna Paramahansa??? The name!!! - Totapuri..

I love the Internet for making it super-easy -
1. To find such interesting connections (thanks Google)
2. To spot when someone is making stuff up (thanks Wikipedia community)
3. To share my thoughts with anyone and everyone around the globe

...... the list is endless
Engineering is really the most noble profession on planet earth! ;-)

ok.. now to the recipe - this salad recipe just happened spontaneously in my kitchen. I have recently discovered raw Fennel as an interesting ingredient and I am slowly getting to know it better.

yeah yeah - as always, there is a connection of this recipe with the word 'Totapuri'.. the salad has chunks of south-American variety of mango* that tastes very similar to the Totapuri mango from India. Totapuri is usually one of the most ignored variety of mango in India (the land of Alphonso mango). But for this salad Totapuri is what you need - because you need the tang, the crunch and the chunkiness for this salad.

*IMHO Hapus/Alphonso is THE ONLY variety of the fruit that deserves the name - Mango. Every other variety is just trying to imitate the taste. It's like a generic MP3 player trying to act like an IPOD.

Source: AshaCool kitchen

Time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients: for 4 people

1 Mango (Totapuri or South-American Variety that's a bit tangy) cut into 1 inch chunks
1 Fennel bulb - thinly sliced
2-3 Fennel fronds cut finely for garnish
3/4 cup Dried cranberries with sugar to balance the tang
1 tsp olive oil
Salt, Pepper to taste

Recipe:

In a salad bowl mix all the ingredients and enjoy!

Chicken drumsticks with Nando's sauce

2010-11-30T08:04:00.000-08:00

Story: What adds the necessary spice to your life? I bet it's the surprises, the little fights, the twists and turns in the road that make the journey interesting...

Nando's was one such turn in our trip to the UK. We did eat fish-n-chips and lots of yummy Indian food etc etc.. but the chicken wings at Nando's with the extra-hot peri-peri sauce was the most memorable food moment.

When I read that Nando's peri-peri sauce is made from African bird's eye chili with a Portuguese style recipe I was like "whoa??" After not-much googling I figured it was Portuguese influence from colonial times that resulted in the recipe. Anyway - this sauce is tangy, garliki, hot .. oooh.. just perfect for a nice chicken drumstick (tangdi).

BTW - you can buy these sauces online or in store. In Pune (India) grocery stores that sell non-Indian spices seem to carry this sauce and.. as it turns out, Nando's also has a restaurant in Mumbai and in Baltimore!!

Source: Nando's :)

Time: Prep from day before, actual cooking time about an hour

Ingredients:

5-6 chicken drumsticks
little more than 1 cup Nando's hot peri-peri marinade
24 hrs (for marination)
Optional - BBQ coal
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp kosher salt

Recipe: for 2/3 people

Add Nando's peri-peri marinade to the drumsticks, mix well. Keep it covered in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake the chicken, heat the oven at 400 F. Add 3-4 cups of water to a 1 inch deep baking tray and place a large wire mesh on top of the baking tray. Place the drumsticks on the wire mesh. This way the water does not touch the drumsticks and doesn't dilute the flavor of the sauce, but the steam from this water will make the drumsticks extra juicy and tender. Place the tray in the oven for 25 minutes or so.

I suppose it should be ok to steam the drumsticks instead of baking in an oven - but I have not tried it.

Once the drumsticks are cooked, heat a cast iron tawa or a flat pan on medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of oil and place the cooked chicken drumsticks on the pan. Heat the coal piece on the side and once it starts giving out smoke, place it on the pan and cover the pan. This will give a nice smokey flavor to the chicken.

Serve hot with extra-hot peri-peri sauce.

Chatpate Chhole

2010-11-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

Story: Canned chhole and raajma always remind me of the fun times in grad school.. Six of us shared (way more than) groceries in the two years.. there were many nutcases/jerks on campus and it was fun to gossip about them.. in fact, even now when grad school is becoming a distant memory, these almost mythical characters always manage to make an appearance in our conversations... I am sure our kids will have to hear some of these stories as well..

Today's post is dedicated to jerks/nutcases that provide the much needed entertainment in otherwise boring school-life..

Here's one such story - (disclaimer - it may sound funny only if my friend Shinde narrates it or only if you were a part of the story)

A second year grad student requested a few of us, FOB (fresh off the boat) grad students to help out with moving his furniture. Clueless bunch of us went to help out in good faith.. Once all the furniture was moved, with a ton of attitude and not even a tinge of gratitude he said - let me buy you beer. This felt like he was trying to pay us.. that DID NOT go over well. Then he insists - let's go for a coffee.. everyone goes to the closest Dunkin' Donuts and orders coffee. This guy orders coolatta.. we take the first sip of our coffee and find it extremely bitter.. and he goes - "yeah.. I know - the coffee is really bitter. that's why I always order coolatta.. it is the best!"

so yes - we were taken for a ride here.. but boy.. have we enjoyed the re-re-runs of this experience when we would bash this guy to no length.

Source: Seemantini Deshpande-Nikumbh

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 large can of half-cooked chick peas
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
Few finely chopped mint leaves

For the red-cabbage salad (optional)

Half a bunch of radicchio thinly sliced - coleslaw style
1 tsp chat masala
juice of 1 lemon
Mandarin orange supreme for decoration

Recipe:

Heat the oven to 350F

Drain the water from the canned chick peas and wash them well. Transfer the chick peas to a baking tray, drizzle olive oil, add the spices and mix well. Spread the spice-coated chick peas in the tray in a flat layer.

Slide the tray in the oven for 20-ish minutes. Remove the baking tray and enjoy with drinks.

If you want to turn this into a salad like I did mix the sliced red cabbage with chat masala and lemon juice, spread this cabbage in a platter, decorate with mandarin orange supreme and add the baked chick peas in the center and garnish chickpeas with the mint leaves.

This salad goes really well with a soup-pasta meal

Achar Rangbiranga - Fresno Chili Pickle

2010-11-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

Story: Last Sunday I felt like I graduated some level in Indian home cooking.. when I spent a couple of hours making Aachar (Indian Pickle) with my MIL. This Fresno chili achaar recipe comes from my hubby's grandma - or my MIL's MIL :-)

This time I have a video story - I simply love this bollywood song for Bachhan Jr's dance and Vahida Rehman's graceful dadi.. I think Genda Phool captures a typical achar making party like no other song.

Flashback - 15-20 years ago.. My mom with her friends in the apartment would spend weekends in summer making a variety of pickles and papads for the whole year. Each one of them had their specialty - Patil-kaku would add khandeshi spices, Aai would add authentic Puneri spices and Khandekar kaku would add spices from Indore. It was a fun, productive girls' day out that ended in recipe exchange and a potluck (they din't call it potluck).

So behold readers.. I proudly present.. my first achar recipe, post number 75...(drum roll).......

Achar Rangbiranga

Source: MIL's MIL

Time: It takes time alright - 4-5 hrs total

Ingredients: Should last for a couple of months for a family of 4

4 cups oil
40 Fresno Peppers or 20 Fresno and 20 Banana Peppers
Note from MIL for readers from Pune - you will find these chilies in the market around January. These peppers are commonly found in North India.
200 grams coriander powder
Salt - need a lot - to taste
3 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp hing/asafoetida
Juice of 4-6 lemons

Recipe:

Remove the stem and top portion of the peppers carefully. Keep the top part in tact as shown in the picture. Slit the peppers vertically without completely cutting them into two halves.

For the filling, add salt to taste to the coriander powder. Heat a couple of tbsp oil in a pan and add it to the coriander powder. Mix well till you can form a lump of the coriander powder as shown.

Stuff the peppers completely with this mixture and keep aside.

Heat 4 cups of oil in a large pan and when it reaches smoking point (test with a mustard seed), add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Turn the heat off and add the stuffed peppers to the hot oil one pepper at a time. Each pepper should get a nice bath of oil.

Cover the pan and let this mixture cool down for a couple of hours. Add lemon juice to the mixture and stir the pickle. Store in an air-tight jar.

In a day or two the peppers will soak in most of the oil. Just this one time, heat another cup of oil, add asafoetida and turmeric, cool down the mixture and add to the pickle.

Here comes the most difficult part - WAIT for a week!! before the pickle is ready for you to taste. But trust me the taste is worth every minute of the wait.

Red pepper stuffed with penne

2010-11-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

Story: Remember slogging the night before "journal" submission day to get a passing grade in undergrad?

I remember writing (copying) journals in beautiful handwriting with extra margins drawn on the sides etc etc.. just so I get a good grade. Once a Prof. was correcting such a journal and he kept praising my handwriting and presentation. Then he moved on to the readings from the lab experiment and said - something doesn't make sense here.. we never finished the experiment because the machine was broken. He turned to me and asked - "How come you have the readings?" ... ooops.

My point is - looks can be deceiving!! when it comes to cooking - you'll agree that the taste of food is more important than the presentation, the table setting etc etc.

This "looker" prize winning recipe is inspired from one of Rachael Raycipes... all I'd say is - pay attention to the taste of the stuffing as much as the hot looking red pepper.. :-)

Source: Raychael Ray
Time: 1.5 hour
Ingredients: for 4 people

6 small size red peppers
2 tbsp olive oil for drizzling on the peppers
salt and pepper to rub the inside of the peppers

For the pasta

Make basil pesto by replacing sundried tomatoes with fresh basil leaves in the Sundried Tomato Pesto recipe
4-6 cups of penne rigate
6 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese to garnish on the red pepper
3 tsp Italian seasoning mix

Recipe:
While the water for cooking pasta comes to a boil, remove the tops and the seeds from the red peppers as shown in the picture. Rub the insides of the red peppers with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil on the surface.

Put the pasta in the boiling water.

Now roast the red peppers on direct flame - one at a time so that they get a nice black char. You will be able to smell the roasted pepper.. I just love the smell. Make sure not to overheat the peppers since they have to retain the shape.

Pasta should be done by now - make sure it is al dente. Drain the pasta water - keep about half a cup aside for later use. Toss the pasta with the basil pesto. Use the pesto liberally so that the taste comes through even with the red pepper. Add the pasta water as needed to get a uniform coating of the pesto.

Stuff each roasted pepper with the pesto penne, garnish with 1 tbsp mozzarella and a pinch of Italian seasoning.

Just before serving, broil the peppers without the tops till the cheese is melted. You can use an oven, or a toaster oven.

Enjoy with your favorite salad, soup and an artisan bread!.. a glass of wine would be real nice! :)

Orange and Fennel Salad

2010-11-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Story: I have seen fennel seeds being used in Indian pickle spices, in "panch poran" for tadka, and may be in pakodas and such.. But I have not seen raw fennel being used in Indian cooking. Have you? I am really curious why someone would choose to use only the seeds and ignore the flavorful root and green fronds of Fennel... may be because fennel seeds were imported from somewhere??

ok.. I will stop making wild guesses. I will just assume that it is my ignorance as usual and somewhere in India people cook with fennel fronds and root and I just don't know about it. Or may be I will search it on the Internet (google it) and let you know.. :-)

Anyway.. Fennel adds a unique crispness to the taste & texture of this salad. The flavor is a bit strong, but goes really well with oranges. In fact I was a bit unsure about starting my meal with the fennel flavor.. usually I fennel seeds are eaten after a typical Indian meal.

But orange and fennel turned out to be a great combo.. I think this salad would be best suited for summer. Eat it with your favorite sandwich or with grilled fish.

Source: Raychael Ray's 30 minute meals recipe

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

1 Naval orange (Mosambi) supremed
1/2 lemon zested and juice
salt and fresh ground black pepper
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1 head fennel, thinly sliced, plus fronds finely chopped
Optional - marinated olives (my addition)

Recipe:

Add all the ingredients in a salad bowl with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and enjoy!

Sesame Salmon

2010-10-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Story: The worst punishment for an artist is to make them perform in front of an audience that does not know how to enjoy their art. Imagine Sachin Tendulkar playing in front of a bunch of American-football fans.. or Pt. Jasraj singing for an audience that only enjoys dhinchak bollywood music.. It is like making me read a G. A. Kulkarni book or making me understand a poem by Grace. I just don't get it!

Here's another way to look at it.. you should know your audience when you present, perform or cook!

Not that I am claiming to be an artist or anything.. but I think every cook needs an audience that can enjoy and critique their creations. I wouldn't cook fish.. that too.. my most favorite fish - Salmon for people that don't care for fish.

Thankfully.. I am blessed with a foodie fish-loving (?) family.. and with my FIL in town you can expect many fishy posts in next few months :-)

Source: One of Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals

Time: About 1 hour

Ingredients:

3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 tbsp of finely chopped fresh thyme
6 tbsp of toasted sesame seeds
1 tbsp lemon zest
4-5 fennel fronds
20 ish 1 inch cube pieces of Salmon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of half a lemon

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Combine parsley, thyme, sesame seeds, lemon zest, lemon juice and fennel fronds. Season Salmon pieces with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roll the Salmon pieces in herb mix. Coat a baking tray with olive oil and place the Salmon pieces on the tray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes till the Salmon gets a pinkish white color.

Enjoy with your favorite salad.. ideally with the fennel and orange salad that's coming soon.

Ganimi Kava Salad

2010-10-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

Story: I am sure you have heard the line - "It's not what you said.. it's how you said it"..
When my FIL was raving about this salad.. I had this exact reaction - only in a positive way:

Someone on a food show would have said - "The contrast in the texture of avocado and asparagus with the crisp freshness of the mint..blah blah blah.."

Here's the instant reaction from my father-in-law (in Marathi) - "Aahaaha.. ekdam maja ali salad khaun.. He asparagus mhnaje Shivajichya Ganimi Kavyasarakha.. madhech surprise detay."

In English - "Oh... I really enjoyed eating this salad.. The asparagus is like Shivaji's Ganimi Kava.. a total surprise.."

Here's to non-scripted, spontaneous and original comments.. and recipes.. :)

P.S.: In case you are wondering.. Ganimi Kava is not a Japanese word.. It is actually a Marathi word that refers to guerrilla tactics that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj pioneered. In colloquial Marathi this term is used to refer to the "surprise" element of the guerrilla techniques.

Source: AshaCool kitchen

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 Avocado - cut into slices
10-15 Asparagus stems blanched/half cooked in boiling water
5-6 red radish balls thinly sliced
juice of 1 lemon
handful of mint leaves finely chopped
1 tsp chat masala
handful croutons

Recipe:
Cut the asparagus stems into 1 inch pieces. In a salad bowl mix all the ingredients. Adjust the amount of lemon juice and chat masala as per your taste.

Veg Sweet Corn Soup

2010-10-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

Story: Just like no Hindu ceremony can start without a prayer for lord Ganesha.. no soup recipe is complete without the mention of the "Soup Nazi".

You haven't heard of him??? - well then - NO SOUP FOR YOU!

Ok.. for those who haven't watched Seinfeld or don't get it.. (I really feel sorry for you! - :-P) - here's a true soup story...

My cousin had a baby and his mom came from India to play the typical Indian grandma role.. Within a few months the baby had accumulated numerous toys that made all sorts of sounds. So there was this huge pile of toys in the corner of the living room. Grandma woke up one night and started walking toward the kitchen to get water... Imagine 2.00 am at night - it was really dark and the moment she went close to the toy corner in the living room - She heard a loud deep voice - "Would you like some soup??"..... she was so scared she turned back never got water and started reciting prayers.

Yep - it was one of those super-sensitive fake kitchen toys that managed to scare her :D

So - "Would you like some soup?"

Source: AshaCool kitchen

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: for 4 people

4 cups of fresh/frozen/canned corn kernels
2 tbsp corn flour
1 small carrot finely chopped into tiny squares
3-4 french beans finely chopped into tiny squares
Optional 1/4 green pepper finely chopped into tiny squares
3-4 stems of french onion finely chopped
1-2 green chilies finely chopped
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp Soy sauce
Salt and crushed pepper to taste
1 tbsp butter

Recipe:

Boil 3 cups of corn kernels till they are completely cooked. Save 1 cup of corn kernels for later. Drain the water and grind the cooked corn kernels along with the corn flour till they form a fine paste.

Heat butter in a soup pan. Add green chilies, carrots, beans, green peppers and half of the french onion to it and saute till everything gets coated with butter. Cover the pan and let the veggies cook on a low-medium heat for about 2 minutes.

Once the carrots become tender add the cooked corn mixture and mix well. Cover the pan and cook for another minute. Remove the lid and add the remaining corn kernels. Add water as needed (about 1 cup) to adjust the consistency of the soup. Cover the pan and let this mixture come to a boil. The corn flour in the mixture makes the soup a bit sticky.

Once this mixture comes to a boil, add vinegar and mix well. Add salt and pepper as per taste.
Add the soy sauce and the remaining french onion just before serving.

Serve hot with snacks such as chips and salsa. This one is always a hit!

Kobichi Pachadi - Cabbage Salad

2010-10-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

Story: Today's story is about taking things for granted... sometimes you stop noticing little things on your plate that make your meal interesting.... Like Kobichi Pachadi!! - A simple salad (koshimbeer/kachumber) that I had not really thought of as a specialty until our house-warming party. I made this traditional salad to balance the heat of Paav Bhaji and din't think anyone will even notice it...

Everyone loved it and was raving about the salad instead of the Paav Bhaji. A few weeks back it happened again.. a similar menu.. and Kobichi Pachadi sidelined everything else.. then I realized that most of my friends here are not used to different styles of koshimbeers/kachumbers/Indian salads.

I will post other koshimbeer recipes soon..

Source: Aai (I should mention the source only when it is not my Mom-Aai - otherwise assume it is her..)

Time:30 mins

Ingredients: for 4 people as a side

1/2 Cabbage very thinly sliced - coleslaw style
1/2 cup grated fresh coconut (frozen one is fine)
1/2 cup chana daal - soaked in hot water for 20-30 mins
1 green chili finely cut
handful finely chopped coriander leaves
1/2 inch ginger - grated (don't use the canned paste - the vinegar will add a strange flavor)
2 tbsp lemon juice - add more if you like the tang
salt and sugar to taste

Optional Tadka: 1 tbsp oil, pinch of hing/asafoetida, pinch of turmeric powder, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 5-6 curry leaves

Improvisations: Roast a corn and remove the roasted kernels. Add salt, red chili powder and lemon to it and mix well. Use this mixture instead of soaked chana daal. Corn-cabbage combo tastes great!

Recipe:

Mix all the ingredients except Tadka in a bowl and add salt and sugar to taste. I love the crunch of cabbage - so I prefer this without a tadka.. but the curry leaves in the tadka add a real nice flavor.. so I'd say if you want to add tadka - add it just before serving.

Tastes great with soups, and spicy preparations like Paav Bhaji..

Puneri Misal with Kolhapuri Tarri

2010-10-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Story: "Misal" literally means a mixture.. this delectable combination of dry savory snacks with a spicy concoction called "Tarri" (gravy) is extremely popular in the Ghat-land (Maharashtra) and where-ever else ghats (Maharashtrians) migrated - (Gujarath, Madhya Pradesh etc).

There are two popular versions of Misal - the milder Poona Misal or Puneri Misal from my home town Pune and the hot and sassy Kolhapuri Misal. This recipe blends both flavors - the base is Poona style and the gravy is Kolhapur style.

Ok! enough "Gyan" about Misal - here's my personal story about Misal... My Mom's family lived in downtown Pune where we have two legendary misal shops - Bedekar Misal and Bhide Misal. Both family run businesses with their unique taste.. On many Sundays Shekhar-mama (my uncle) would pick up a to-go order from one of these places in a multi-tier tiffin and he would bring it to our house... I remember the tiffin, the smell of the hot tarri and the yummy Sunday brunch sprinkled with classic Pune style super-sarcastic humor that - just like the taste of hot misal - is not for the weak of heart!

and here I am.. sitting in classic New England weather.. dreaming about Misal....
Source: Aai (my Mom)

Time: 2-3 hours (need to make sprouts in advance)

Ingredients: for 2 misal hungry or 4 normal people

For the Usal:

3 cups of mixed sprouts (sprout 1.5 cup moth, 1 cup whole moong and 0.5 cup white chana)
1 tbsp oil, 1tsp mustard seeds, 1 pinch hing and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder for tadka
2 tbsp tamarind pulp
Jaggery/gud and salt to taste

Usal Masala:

1 Large onion thinly sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic - sliced
1.5 cups of dry shredded coconut
1.5 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1.5 tbsp cumin seeds
1-2 cloves
2-3 black peppercorns
4-5 dry red chilies

For the Tarri:

Kolhapuri Kanda-Lasun Masala or Parampara Kolhapuri chicken masala
1 large onion finely cut
2 tbsp tomato puree
My addition - 1 tbsp kasoori methi leaves
If you are making it Pune style - need handful fresh shredded coconut for garnish

For the base:

2 large potatoes, boiled, peeled and cut into 1 inch squares
3 cups of thick poha/flattened rice - soaked in water for a few minutes
3-4 cups of Chivda/Farsan
2 cups of Yogurt
finely cut onions and coriander leaves for garnish

1 packet of white bread or paav as a side

Usal Recipe:

Misal needs quite a bit of prep work.. but this is also something you can make ahead of time.
Dry roast all the Usal Masala ingredients except coconut and sesame seeds for a couple of minutes. Then turn the heat low-medium and add coconut and sesame seeds. Dry roast till the coconut turns brownish black. You will get a wonderful aroma of the smokey mixture of roasted coconut, onion and garlic (Khamang Vaas in Marathi). Grind this mixture into a fine paste - add ass little water as possible.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pan and make tadka. Add sprouts to the tadka and saute for a couple of minutes. Turn the heat low and steam the sprouts for a few minutes till they are half cooked. Then add the usal masala and tamarind pulp. Saute for a few minutes till the mixture starts losing some oil. Add warm water to the mixture and salt and gud to taste. Put the lid on and let the usal come to a boil. The sprouts will be well cooked now.

Tarri Recipe:
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, to the hot oil add onions and saute till they turn golden brown. Add tomato puree and saute till the mixture becomes a bit dry. Now add Kolhapuri masala - I'd add a couple of tbsp - but then I like my Tarri really hot. So adjust the spice level to taste. Saute for a couple of minutes. Now add 3-4 cups of water and bring the tarri to a boil. Garnish with coariander leaves and fresh coconut.

Additives: Make tadka in a pan and add potato pieces to it. Repeat the tadka for the thick poha.

Assembly:

Misal is perfect for self-service. Each person will assemble their own. I don't know if the order matters - but here's the typical order and amounts for each layer..

Couple of tbsp of poha
1 tbsp potato
3 -4 tbsp Usal
2 tbsp Chivada or Farsan
Tarri - at least 1 tbsp adjust the upper limit as per your tolerance
Garnish with finely cut onion and coriander

Eat it with Paav - or white bread to balance the heat of the tarri. Remember - if you don't have a runny nose after the first few bites.. something's not right.. :-)

Salsa Verde

2010-09-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

Story: "first time" memories are special.. first love, first baby... first time I ate olives and how I had hated the taste... first time I traveled for a conference to the beautiful city - San Antonio and had my first encounter with Salsa Verde!!

I was relatively new to the US at the time and my pallet had barely started to open up to non-Indian cuisines. Mexican was my favorite just because it was spicy and closest to Indian . So San Antonio river walk was the perfect place for me to visit.

At that time I knew only one kind of salsa - the one you buy in a Walmart - Tostitos restaurant style salsa. I still remember my reaction when this taqueria served complementary hot tortilla chips along with 4-5 different salsas. It was one of those moments when you see something new but you don't want to react right-away just so you don't look dumb.. even if exclamation marks are going off in your head...

Salsa Verde - the green spicy salsa was the best find.. it was like Indian green chutney.. but had a distinct taste from capers, tarragon, and jalapeno peppers.

Source: Salsas and Dips by Silvana Franco

Time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients:

Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
Handful flat parsley finely chopped
Couple of stems of french onion
1-2 stems of tarragon
2 Jalapenos finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1.5 tsp salted capers
1/2 cup olive oil
salt, pepper to taste

Recipe:

Blend all the ingredients into a spicy, tangy salsa verde - add salt and pepper to taste. Eat it as a dip or a topping on your taco. Fish Taco recipe will follow soon..

Dadpe Pohe

2010-08-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

Story: "Aushadh Ek Upchaar Anek", said the advertisement for a multipurpose ayurvedic cream - Kailas Jeevan. Same goes for the ingredient Poha - it is so versatile! - "Poha Ek Meals Anek!" - use it in Chiwada, in cutlets to make them extra crispy, in Misal as a base for the spicy masala or as a snack on its own...

My Mom often made this as an after-school snack. Slightly spicy taste from the green chilies, tang from the lemon juice and sweetness of fresh coconut all come together to take something as flat as Poha to another level.. if you put crushed Poha Papad on top, it tastes like heaven!

Source: Aai (Mom)

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: for 3-4 people

6 cups flat/thin poha
1 medium size onion - finely chopped
1 cup grated fresh coconut
1-2 green chilies finely cut
1 tsp grated ginger
3-4 curry leaves
1.5 tsp black mustard seeds
Pinch of hing/asafoetida
Handful daliya (can use peanuts instead)
1.5 tbsp oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and sugar to taste
Handful coriander leaves chopped finely

Recipe:

Add the green chilies, ginger, salt, sugar, onion, coconut to the poha in a bowl. Mix well till the poha starts to soak the moisture from the coconut and onion. Add lemon juice and mix well. Immediately start making the tadka before the poha becomes too soft. Heat oil, then add hing and mustard seeds to the hot oil, once mustard seeds start to crackle, add curry leaves and daliya or peanuts and stir for half a minute. Then pour this tadka over the poha mixture and lightly mix it in.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and crushed-deep-fried poha paapad! Perfect snack for a summer evening..

Sundried Tomato Pesto

2010-08-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Story: How will your mother-in-law react if you gifted her a cooking lesson???? sounds controversial right? :o) What if I told you that it is a class in Italian cooking... and a culinary expert will come in to teach a group of close family members.. we will all wear chef's hats, cook together, and have a great time. ok - You guessed right.. I gifted my MIL a cooking lesson with Ellie Deaner.

It was a tasty, memorable and fun experience! Ellie and my MIL exchanged tips, discussed Italian and Indian cooking, while all of us dabbled in shaping pizza dough, cutting apples etc. Even my FIL took active part in cooking! I'd recommend it to all the foodies reading this blog.

How is it related to Sundried Tomato Pesto? - Today's recipe is inspired from the basil pesto recipe that Ellie taught us that day...

Source: Inspired from Ellie Deaner's basil pesto recipe

Time: 1 hr
Ingredients:

Handful sundried tomatoes soaked in hot water for 1/2 hr
1.5 tbsp pine nuts
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
3-4 basil leaves
3-4 tbsp Olive Oil

Recipe:

Add all the ingredients except olive oil to the mixer. Add Olive oil as you blend these ingredients together into a delicious pesto! Add salt and pepper to taste.. most likely you won't need any because of the salty parmigiano reggiano.

What do you use it for??
You can put it on home made Pizza with Ricotta cheese, or
spread it on a sour dough bread with feta cheese and fresh veggies for a sandwich or
like I did - you could make a simple pasta - best is spaghetti or penne rigate because they hold on to the pesto perfectly. I din't have either so I used farfalle/bowtie pasta..

So what are you waiting for - make and store this versatile Italian chutney for multiple tasty meals!

Kairicha Panha

2010-08-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

Story: Ideally I should have posted this recipe with the recipe for Kairichi Daal. It is difficult to write about one without the other. But time was not on my side.. and so after a long break here is the recipe for Kairicha Panha - A refreshing summer drink.

Source: Aai (My Mom)

Time: 1 hr
Ingredients:

Cooked Raw Mango (Kairi)
1 cup jaggery - shredded
2-3 tsp sugar
salt to taste
3-4 cardamom seeds powdered
2-3 saffron strands

Recipe:

Cook raw mango in a pressure cooker. Remove the skin and separate the pulp from the seed. Mash this pulp into a smooth paste. Add the rest of the ingredients to the paste and mix well. Store this concentrate in an air tight jar. Will last for 2-3 months.

To serve the drink add 2 tbsp of the concentrate to a glass. Add water and mix well. Adjust the amount of concentrate as per taste. Goes best with .. you guessed right - Kairichi Daal.

Kairichi Daal

2010-07-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

Story: I follow many rituals not so much because I believe in them.. but mostly because these rituals bring back fond memories of my childhood.. these rituals magically take me back to my hometown - Pune!

It is summer here and I was talking to a friend about what all we can make from a raw mango aka kairi in Indian summers. As we started talking I remembered Haladi-Kunku festivities that usually happen in early summer (chaitra). The concept of Haladi-Kunku seems similar to a girls' night out to me. It means having a good time with your girlfriends, chit chat, gossip and of course yummy food.. A typical menu is Kairichi Daal and Panha! Raw mango/Kairi is the main ingredient in both..

My aaji (grandma) tells me that in her days Haldi-Kunku was a rare and special occasion to dress up, to relax with friends etc. etc.. When I was growing up most of my Mom's friends were working women and it was tough for them to find time on weekday evenings for Haldi-Kunku. But while managing their jobs, families and other commitments they still attended and enjoyed these festivities. Now in my generation we have a girls' night out and don't bother to cook at all - we eat out... Panha is replaced by cosmo or margaritas and Kairichi daal with finger food.

No matter what generation though somethings have not changed - The tangy spicy taste of kairichi daal, the unique cooling effect of panha.. and most of all the compulsive need for girlfriends to get together to relax, gossip and have a good time!

Source: Aai (Mom)

Time: 30 mins + few hours to soak the chana daal

Ingredients:

2 cups Chana daal
little over 1/2 cup of shredded raw mango/kairi
1 small green chili
1/2 tsp shredded ginger
salt and sugar to taste
lemon juice to compensate for a not-so-sour kairi
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 curry leaves
1 dry red chili
pinch of hing/asafoetida
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp fresh grated coconut
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

Recipe:

Soak chana daal for a 4-6 hours in water. Remove water from soaked chana daal and grind it really coarsely. You should see broken pieces of daal to get the perfect texture. Mix in finely chopped green chili and ginger. Add shredded kairi, salt and a bit of sugar to taste. If the kairi is not sour enough add lemon juice to adjust taste. This mixture itself tastes yumm..

Now heat the oil in a small pan for tadka. Add mustard seeds and hing to the heated oil. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter add dry red chili, curry leaves and turmeric powder. Mix well and pour this tadka over the chana daal mixture. Mix well.

Garnish with fresh coconut and coriander leaves and must must enjoy with a chilled glass of Panha!! - Panha recipe will be out by tomorrow.

OMG!! I love this cocktail..

2010-07-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Story: Do you remember spelling tests?.. I still get bad dreams about my spelling tests - In my dream - I am trying real hard to spell the word - convinient... completely stressed out thinking whether it has an 'e' or an 'i' after 'v'...

Thank god for spell check!! especially the in-built spell check in Internet browsers.. I think Ram Gopal Verma aptly said on his blog - something like - 'In this era of sms, mms and tweets people who worry about spellings are dinosaurs!'

Although it takes me a while to read the sms language.. I think I understand the spirit..
To the point, short words that accurately convey someone's sentiments..

That's why I decided to name this cocktail - OMG!! - that's the reaction people have after the first sip..

Source: AshaCool kitchen
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

Freshly squeezed juice of 3 Naval Oranges - (aka Mosambi in India)
1/4 cup Cointreau
1/4 cup Limoncello
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp Kokam concentrate - If you don't have kokam try cranberry juice that should taste equally good

Recipe:

Mix the ingredients in a shaker and serve on the rocks with rock salt on the rim of the glass.
Perfect drink for a hot summer evening.. if you have grilled Salmon and the fruity spinach salad to go with it - even better!

Frankie Fiesta

2010-07-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

Story: Are you a junk foodie? My whole family is.. as a kid I would go out with my Mom to explore street food - Bhel, Panipuri, Vada Pav, Pav Bhaji.. the list is endless. When my family gets together we often talk about what junk food to eat where.. which vendor sells the best pani puri etc etc.

Mumbai Frankie is one of many popular dishes you get on the streets of India (at least around Mumbai). Frankie is basically like a toasted burrito. Also similar to Kati roll.. that reminds me - if you are in NYC you must taste the best Kati Rolls from The Kati Roll Company. Their Paneer Kati Roll and Chicken Unda Roll is to die for..

anyways.. back to Frankie.. usually it is filled with spicy roasted veggies, cheese and is eaten hot with ketchup. To create the fiesta effect I used Gua-lsa (Guacamole and Salsa) with cheese on Indian roti (a thin whole wheat tortilla).

If you have rotis ready... this is the perfect quick fix on a weekday evening..

Source: Fond memories of junk food
Time: 30 mins
Ingredients: enough for 4-6 Frankies

4-6 rotis or whole wheat tortillas
kernels of 1 roasted corn (yes - roast it first - it makes a difference)
1/2 red pepper thinly sliced
1 medium onion thinly sliced
1/2 yellow/bell pepper thinly sliced
shredded cheese or slices of American cheese singles
Gualsa (1/2 cup Gualcamole mixed with 2-3 tbsp of hot salsa)

Recipe:
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Saute peppers till they become a bit tender, then add onions and increase the heat. Saute on high heat till you get a bit of char on the veggies. Add the kernels of roasted corn and mix well.

Get all the other raw material - rotis, gualsa and cheese.

Place a roti in a plate, Add little over 1 tbsp of roasted veggies, 1 tbsp of gualsa and 1/2 tbsp shredded cheese. Roll the roti like a burrito. If you cannot close it from the sides - that's ok. Just be careful when roasting the roll on a pan.

Roast on both sides.. Serve hot with a soup or a drink depending on the weather.

Fruity Spinach Salad for Summer

2010-07-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

Story: Is it true that - If something tastes really good it must not be "healthy"? I don't know.. This recipe is quite tasty and it doesn't appear to be unhealthy.. but then.. who am I to say what is healthy and what is not.

Just reading this blog can tell you how conscious I am about my calorie intake ;-) Also, people don't seem to agree on what is "healthy" - e.g. Is spinach a good source of iron?

Anyways .. back to this recipe.. I like baby spinach in my salad and I love fruits. I got inspired from the Apple-Goat Cheese salad recipe that Rupangi gave me and came up with a variation suitable for summer.

Source: Fertile mind and inspiration from my dear friend Rupangi Patel

Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients: For 3-4 people

1 bag of baby spinach leaves - or generic salad mix should work as well
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbsp Red wine vinegar
2 tbsp Raspberry salad dressing
1/2 cup canned tangerines and 1/2 cup dried cranberries or 1 cup fresh raspberries

Recipe:

Mix the red wine vinegar and raspberry dressing before adding to the salad.
Add rest of the ingredients to a salad bowl, add the dressing and mix lightly without breaking the fruit.

Goes very well with BBQ food.

With tangerines and cranberries

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich

2010-06-29T09:29:00.000-07:00

Story: I am facing some really tough questions today... Is it Woos-tah or is it Wor-ces-ster or even Wor-ches-ter? Is it Conne-ti-cut or Kaanne-kti-cut?

Is it Port-a-bella or Port-o-bello? - Apparently the jury is still out on this one.

After much deep and profound brain things inside my head, [Madagascar] I have decided to call the whole thing off..

Why worry about such details when you can enjoy a grilled sandwich and a fruity cocktail on a nice sunny day...

Source: AshaCool kitchen
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients: for 3-4 sandwiches

6-8 Portobello Mushroom cups
Sliced Sour dough bread
2-3 tbsp Olive Oil
Italian seasoning (spice mix with basil, oregano, and other Italian herbs)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Slices of fresh Mozzarella cheese

Recipe:
Fire the grille and until it becomes hot enough (350F) lightly rub the olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper on the mushroom cups. Keep these covered for a few minutes.

Put some olive oil and herbs on the sour dough bread slices and keep them aside.

First put the mushroom caps on the grille until they start losing water and become somewhat flat. Now put the bread slices on the grille and add cheese slices on top of the mushroom caps.
Flip the bread once after you see brown grill-marks on one side.

As soon as the cheese starts melting - assemble the mushroom cap with cheese between the two slices of bread and enjoy with a fruity cocktail or with hot soup.

I like this recipe for its simplicity.. when I was looking up on the web I bumped into this one. It looks really yummy but elaborate.. may be I will give it a try next time.

Kuskara or Phodnichi Poli

2010-06-22T10:43:00.000-07:00

Story: This is my favorite left-over recipe of all times.. It is called kuskara because the act of making small pieces of chapati by hand is called "Kuskarane" in Marathi. The other name - phodnichi poli is easier to understand - phodni means tadka or vaghar and poli means chapati or roti. I am sure Gujarathi folks make some version of this recipe - I wonder what it's called - vaghar ni roti?

So if you have a lot of leftover rotis - Not to worry..

Kuskaraa khaake Muskuraa!!

Source: Aai (my Mom)
Time: 20-30 minutes (assuming you have left-over rotis)
Ingredients: for 2 people

5-6 left-over chapati's or roti's
1 tsp Mustard seeds
2 tbsp oil
pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 green chilies - cut into halves
5-6 curry leaves
handful peanuts
1 medium onion cut into small squares
1 tsp lemon juice
Handful coriander leaves - finely cut
Salt and sugar to taste

Recipe:

The recipe is really really simple - Here's the bottom line: Make tadka - put pea nuts and onion in the tadka followed by the small pieces of roti!

Here are the details:
Make small square pieces of the rotis by hand. Some folks put the rotis in the blender - but that doesn't work for me - I need that coarse texture of the hand made pieces. Keep these aside.

Heat oil in a pan and to the hot oil add asafoetida and mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to crackle, add turmeric powder, green chilies and curry leaves. Your tadka is ready!

Add peanuts and onion to the pan and saute for little over a minute. Add the roti pieces and saute for 3-4 minutes. Cover the pan if you like the kuskara to be on the softer side. I like it nice and crispy - so no cover for me.

Add salt, 1/2 tsp sugar and lemon juice. Stir well and serve with buttermilk or lassi.

Shrimp salad with cherry tomatoes

2010-06-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

Story: It's summer!!!!!! if you live in a place that's cold 6-9 months out of the year.. you'd understand the exclamation marks.. Coming from a city close to Mumbai, as a visitor I did not understand the obsession with summer in New England. But once I moved here it took just one winter for me to realize why a Bostonian stops just to say to a complete stranger, "What a gorgeous sunny day!!"

Summer here means outdoor activities, BBQs, short clothes, beaches and loads of tasty seafood.. Today's shrimp salad is just perfect for a summer BBQ. The other day we had this salad with grilled salmon, garlic bread and an orange juice cocktail. The whole thing was fabulicious!

I almost forgot to take a picture.. so I put the leftover salad on garlic bread just for the picture :-)

Source: Inspired from an episode of 'The ultimate recipe showdown'
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients: Enough for two

12-15 cherry tomatoes
4-6 raw shrimps
3-4 fresh basil leaves
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp of dried Oregano leaves
Salt and Pepper

Recipe:

Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves. Arrange these pieces in a baking tray. Drizzle about a tbsp of olive oil over the tomatoes followed by a sprinkle of salt, pepper and oregano leaves. Broil with medium/high flame in the oven. For 5-10 minutes or till you see a char on the tomatoes.

While the tomatoes are broiling, peel the shrimps. Rub a little bit of salt and pepper on the shrimps and keep aside.

Once the tomatoes are done, transfer them to a serving bowl.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a non-stick pan and add the shrimps to it. It is very easy to overcook shrimps.. I usually cook them for 15 ish seconds on each side and they are cooked within half a minute! At the end add the Basil leaves and mix well.

Cut the Shrimps unevenly into half-inch pieces. and add to the serving bowl. Toss them with the tomatoes and add salt and pepper to taste.

Moong Vada Re-invented

2010-06-02T07:59:00.002-07:00

Story: My two wonderful nieces are visiting us from Mumbai and so we are in a summer vacation mood at home.. so much so that I din't even write my weekly blog post..

Just last week my nieces were asking how I used spend my summer vacations at my brother's place.. and they asked - you must have spent a lot of time cooking for your brother.. Then I told them the truth - My cooking vocabulary was limited to making Chai and instant noodles.. My brother knew way more cooking than I did. He used to cook delicious meals and I would help with the dishes. - My nieces just would not believe me!! Of course very conveniently I took that as a complement :)

I think if you want to learn how to cook - being open to new ideas of mixing ingredients and asking "what's in it" almost every time you like something goes a looong way!

That's exactly how I got this recipe for moong vada.. I had eaten moong vadas that need lots of spices and an elaborate preparation.. but these vada's I had at Amit's place were amazingly simple to make... so the "what's in it" conversation followed and here it is..

Source: Amit's Mom (Thank you Aunty!)

Time: 3o minutes (+ 3 hrs of soaking moong daal)

Ingredients:

2 cups of Whole Moong
Water for soaking the moong
2 green chilies
1/4 tsp hing or asafoetida
2 tsp cumin seeds
salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Recipe:

Take hot water in a bowl and soak whole moong in it 3 hours. Keep the bowl covered.

Remove water from the soaked moong and grind it with chilies, hing and cumin seeds into a rough paste. Add minimal water to this mixture and make sure it does not form a smooth paste.
Add salt to taste.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry several vadas at a time. One vada is of the size of a pakoda - little over a tea spoon of batter.

That's it! - Enjoy as-is or with tamarind-date or green chutney.

Shahi Kofta Hariyali

2010-05-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

Story: Does name of a particular recipe make a difference to the reader? I believe it does.. at least for first-time readers. The name and pictures of a recipe either prompt someone to look into the recipe or move on. When my friend told me about this recipe she didn't really have a name for it... so the name of today's recipe is totally made up: Shahi Kofta Hariyali.. the green gravy is the hariyali ... cashew nuts in the gravy and paneer in the kofta make it a Shahi (Royal) treat!

This story reminds me of this scene from the old Hindi movie 'Angoor':

Ashok's wife: "Pata hai - Pitaji pehle aapka naam Bahadur samjhe the aur Bahadur ka Ashok!"
Ashok: "Kahin aisahi hota to tumhari shadi us gadhe (Bahadur) ke saath ho gayi hoti.."
Ashok's SIL: "Shadi koi Naam se thodi na hoti hai .. hoti to aap se hi! - jo bhi naam hota"
Ashok: "Jo bhi naam hota? Agar mera naam 'Chirkut-kumar' hota to bhi?"

Oh by the way.. the flavor of green pepper dominates the taste of the gravy - and it is delicious!

Source: My friend who prefers to be anonymous
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients: Serves 4

For the gravy:

1.5 Green Pepper
1 Onion - grated or really finely chopped
1 green chili, 1 inch ginger and 2-3 cloves of Garlic
1 bunch of coriander/cilantro cleaned with stems intact
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
handful cashew nuts

For the koftas:

2 Potaoes - boiled, peeled and mashed
1 cup of grated paneer
Salt and pepper to taste
Corn flour and bread crumbs as needed to bind the kofta dough
Enough oil to deep fry the koftas

Recipe:

Mix the mashed potatoes with grated paneer, salt and pepper. Then add bread crumbs (about a cup) to get a dough like consistency. Add corn flour if the dough does not come together.

Make round or any other shape koftas and keep them covered under a wet paper towel. Deep fry the koftas till they turn golden-brown in color.

Blend the Green pepper, cilantro, green chili, ginger and garlic into a paste.
Blend handful cashew nuts into a powder.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds to the hot oil and once they start turning brown add the grated onion - grated onion gives a better consistency than chopped onion. Saute the onion till it becomes golden brown. Add the green paste and saute till the mixture starts losing oil.Add the cashew nut powder, garam masala and salt to this mixture and saute for a couple of minutes. Add hot water as needed (about a cup) to get to a liquid consistency for the gravy.

Bring the gravy to a boil and then add the koftas.

Another good thing about this recipe is that you can make the gravy and the koftas ahead of time and assemble them few minutes before serving.

Fiery Citrus Salsa

2010-05-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

Story: Do you ever read a recipe and try to imagine the taste of the end product? I do it all the time.. and I try the recipe if I really like what I imagined.. or if I cannot imagine the taste - it intrigues me too much..

This recipe comes from the book that has the Avocado-Red Pepper Salsa recipe. Here's what I was thinking when I read it:

What's not to like? - Summer - good, Combination of green apple and orange - good, Freshness of mint with the spice of red chilies - good..

(Joey Tribbiani: I mean, what's not to like? Custard, good. Jam, good. Meat, good!)

and as it happens in the case of many recipes the taste of this fresh summary salsa was better than what I had imagined..

Source: Salsas and Dips by Silvana Franco

Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 Green Apple - cut into a few pieces
1 large naval orange
2 red chilies
1 garlic clove
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
8-10 mint leaves finely chopped
Salt to taste

Recipe:

Real simple - Peel the orange and apple. Cut them into vertical pieces. Add the orange pieces, apple pieces and the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and mix till you get a coarse consistency to the salsa. Enjoy with tortilla chips or grilled shrimps.

Serve within 2 hrs after making.. It is just perfect for a summer BBQ party!

Amti - Marathi Daal Fry

2010-05-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

Story: Everything that you eat has a mood or a feeling associated with it.. Pizza and beer = game night, Til-gud = Makar Sankranti, Mithai mixed with the smoke from fire-crackers = Diwali, Hot pakodas and chai = Rainy evening.... and then there are some food items that give you a sense of satisfaction that cannot be described.. a sensation that satisfies the soul.

What's your comfort food or soul food? - Mac-n-cheese / pasta / Kadhi-khichadi / Daal-chawal / Sabji-and Hot Roti?

This amti/daal is one such food item for me.. Mix it up with small sqaure pieces of roti with lots of pure desi ghee on it to make Policha kala! or Eat it with chawal and dahi and mango pickle.. oh.. it is sooo satisfying..

I am not sure why - but in my mind comfort food is almost always something you ate regularly as a child. May be because it reminds you of the first time you felt that satisfaction from food... it reminds you of your Mom cooking simple yet unbelievably satisfying meals.. This Chincha-Gulachi Amti reminds me of all that..

Source: Aai (my Mom)

Time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

For those not familiar with the term - Chincha-Gulachi Amti is a sweet and sour lentil soup - of course the English translation takes away the charm.

1 cup toor/arahar daal
hing
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp oil
1.5 tsp black mustard seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1.5 tbsp Tamarind/Chincha pulp (not concentrate - use half the amount for concentrate)
Substitute tamarind paste with 2-3 dried Kokam/Aamsool pieces in the tadka for a traditional taste
1.5 tbsp shredded gud/jaggery
1 tsp Kala masala
1-2 green chilies cut in 2-3 pieces
salt to taste
Fresh grated coconut and chopped coriander for garnish

Recipe:

Pressure cook the toor daal in 2 cups of water (twice the amount of daal). Once the daal is cooked, mash it well so that it becomes a uniform paste. Mix a little bit of water to make a smooth paste. Now add tamarind paste, gud, salt, kala masala and mix well. Taste and add salt and gud to taste.

Now make tadka - heat the oil in a pan, add hing and mustard seeds to hot oil. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter add curry leaves and green chilies.

Add the daal mixture to the hot pan. Mix well with the tadka immediately. Add a warm water as needed to get a liquid consistency and mix well.

Cover the lid and let the Amti / lentil soup simmer for 3-4 minutes. This step is very important.. if the daal is not boiled enough - it does not soak all the flavors from the tadka.

Garnish with fresh grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves..

Enjoy!

Note: See Masale Bhaat recipe for the Kala Masala recipe

Pasta Dill-ruba

2010-04-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Story: Don't really have a story this time.. just a few bad jokes.. of course couldn't have come up with these without Shank's help..

Q: Why does this pasta recipe have only 1-2 stems of dill and not the whole bunch?
A: Dill dill hai koi parsley to nahin! - no seriously - dill has a strong flavor so just one or two stems are enough.. unless you want it direct dill-se!

Q: What would you call this recipe if it had basil instead of dill?
A: Pasta basilica

Q: What is a tasty pasta with dill called?
A: Pasta dillruba or pasta dillecious

Bon Appetit!

Source: Inspired from Mario Batali 's technique of using roasted veggies to make a pasta sauce

Time: 1 hr

Ingredients:

1/2 green or red pepper cut into 1-2 inch wide strips (I think red pepper tastes better when roasted)
1 small onion cut into 4-6 pieces
1 tomato cut in two pieces
5-6 garlic cloves
1 tsp paprika
1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano Reggiano for garnish
Olive Oil
Salt, pepper
2 stems of fresh dill finely chopped
1 box of Penne Pasta

Recipe:

Take the veggie pieces in a toaster oven tray and add 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, paprika and garlic cloves. Mix well so that each piece gets a good coating of olive oil. Slide the veggies into the toaster oven or regular oven and broil till they get dark spots as shown in the pictures:

Then blend all the roasted veggies into a puree - the sauce is ready! If you want a more sauce - you can choose to add more tomatoes to the mix.. but I think that will reduce the flavor of the roasted peppers.

Boil salted water for the pasta once the water comes to a boil add the box of Penne to it. Cook the pasta Al Dente or up to the point where the pasta still has a bite to it. One way to check this is to cut one piece of the Penne along its width and see that the innermost layer of the pasta is half cooked. The color of the innermost layer of the cross section looks slightly darker than the rest of the pasta.

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and add dill and saute for a minute or so. Then add the pasta and add crushed red pepper to taste. Mix well so that the dill is mixed with the pasta. Then add the sauce and toss the pasta for a minute or so.

Finish it off with the shredded parmigiano reggiano. Oh.. it is sooo yummy with fresh baked bread and salad!

Limbacha Lonacha - Hot & Sweet Indian lemon pickle

2010-04-21T17:40:00.000-07:00

Story: I won't go into all the excuses for not writing the 50th post for so long... just want to thank you for waiting patiently! I hope the post is worth the wait.

This special post is about a special person whom I admire for so many reasons.. my Aaji! My Aaji/Grandma is super cool.. always has been. I don't know of any other Aaji that has her own music system set up with a headphone! Aaji has and uses her sunglasses when she is going out on a hot summer day.. She is the managing trusty of a social service organization for women. She is 87 and has the enthusiasm of a 10 year old.. Needless to say... Aaji also satisfies the prerequisite of being a Grandma... she is an amazing cook!

Few months ago Aaji sent a bottle of home made hot & sweet lemon pickle with one of my cousins. Shank loves this lemon pickle.. but this time.. the taste was something more than the usual. I cannot really describe it.. but it was simply perfect! Next time I was talking to Aaji over the phone I told her that we are crazy about the new lemon pickle.

Here's what my Aaji said - "I was talking to Pushpa and she told me about this new recipe for the lemon pickle. I will write down the recipe for you in my next letter..." in Marathi - "Aga - Pushpa mala mhanali ki eka navin paddhaticha lonacha shikale aahe. Tar mi mhanala ki apanahi tichyakadun shikun ghyayala kay harkat aahe? Tula patrani pathavate"

Pushpa - is my Aaji's younger sister who is close to 80! just imagine - how many times Aaji must have made limbacha lonacha before this. After sooo many years Aaji still has the enthusiasm and the willingness to learn a new way of doing something. and here I am wondering if it is too late to go back to school :-)

The next letter from Aaji came with another bottle of the pickle and the recipe as well. She is so cute - she sent me the empty packet of the specific brand red chilly powder. Just so I can buy the exact same brand here!

Aaji - tussi great ho!

BTW - this is the first recipe on my blog that I have tasted - but have not tried! and guess what - I am way more confident about the quality of this recipe than any previous recipe.

The recipe in Aaji's handwriting and and the empty packet..

Source: Mrs. Kusum Apte (my supercool Aaji/Grandma)

Time: 2 days including prep time

Ingredients:

12 small lemons with a paper thin skin
1/8 cup red chilly powder (belagi mirchyanche tikhat)
a little less than 1/2 cup Salt
2 cups sugar

Recipe:

Cut each lemon into 8 pieces. Rub salt and chilly powder on the lemon pieces and keep covered for one whole day. The next day cook these lemon pieces in a pressure cooker till the pieces are half cooked.

Take the mixture out of the pressure cooker and keep aside till it completely cools down. Once it is cooled, pour this mixture in a bottle. Add Sugar to the mixture and stir well. Keep refrigerated.

Tips: If you want to increase the sour taste - add extra lemon juice. Make sure that the pressure cooker is not overloaded with lemon pieces. It may be better to cook the lemon pieces in two batches.

Sauteed or Grilled Asparagus

2010-03-31T07:38:00.000-07:00

Story: This Asparagus recipe is about pleasant surprises..

Smita and Vishy are the kind of friends that you can call anytime and drop in for coffee. Friends that you chat with for hours.. about nothing specific .. but feel absolutely refreshed after. Shank and Vishy of course make it a point to crack bad jokes and that sometimes becomes the star attraction of the conversation :-).

Smita and Vishy have a number of specialties when it comes to food.. South-Indian anything, yummmy crepes with sweet and savory filling, exotic teas with added spices and honey.. and the most recent - yummy home made rava idli..they are also very innovative when it comes to using veggies in their meal.

We went for dinner at Smita's place a few years back.. and Smita had made delicious home-made pizza and she had also got asparagus.. I had never even given a second thought to asparagus before that.. mostly because it looks soo different and I had no idea what to do with it. I was very skeptical about the outcome since it looked so strange..But when I had the first bite.. I was so pleasantly surprised that we finished the whole bunch in a few minutes..

So here's wishing you many pleasant surprises..

Source: Smita and Vishy

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients: For 3-4 people and 15-20 asparagus stems

1 bunch of slender, tender green asparagus (haven't tried the white ones yet)
1 tsp olive oil
Water for blanching the asparagus stems

You can select from various seasonings or make up your own:

Simple:

Salt
Crushed black pepper

Spicy:

Garlic
Salt
Crushed black pepper
Crushed red pepper

My current favorite..

A spicy blend of Italian seasoning that Shanu got from Italy.. I am sad that it will get over soon :(
A little shredded Parmesan cheese doesn't hurt..

Recipe:
I saw Bobby Flay and another French chef on Food network pealing the bottom 1-2 inches of the asparagus stems.. so I have started it as well. I think it gets rid of some tough to chew asparagus skin.

Once you have pealed the asparagus, heat enough water in a pan to cover the stems of asparagus. Don't add the asparagus yet.. add a pinch of salt and bring the water to a boil.

Now add asparagus stems to the boiling water and blanch them for a couple of minutes at the most. Strain the stems immediately and use the same pan (dry it) for sauteing the asparagus. Heat olive oil in the pan and then add all the seasonings.. as the seasonings start to splutter add the asparagus stems and saute for less than a minute..

That's it - transfer the stems in a serving plate and enjoy the nutty savory taste!

BTW you can also grill the blanched stems.. the result is quite different from the sauteed taste and it is sooooo yummy!

IndoChinese Hakka Noodles

2010-03-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

Story: This recipe reminds me of the fights from high school and college... Remember the group of students notorious for bullying others... I was in that group. I am not proud of it - ok - may be I am just a little :-) Anyways.. those days were fun because I would say exactly what was on my mind without thinking twice about what the other person might think.. a line my friends still remember:

To a girl from my class who was giving my friend Devaki a hard time - "If you say one more word about Devaki, I will throw you out of the window" - "Tula khidkitun baher phekun dein!"

Then in engineering college there was this intense "cold war" going on between me and this other girl. I got tired one day and said to her - "I know you hate me and I hate you too.. but that doesn't mean we can't show common courtesy to each other!" - hahahahaha - way to show my courtesy!

The funniest thing is none of these silly things I did seemed silly at that time (to me). These conflicts and their resolutions were a significant part of my school life!

I guess by now you are wondering what does this have to do with IndoChinese Hakka noodles?? After making a "compro" with the cold war opponent in engineering college - I went to her birthday party and her Mom had made this amazing Indo Chinese fried rice.... I called her up the next day and asked for the recipe.

This hakka noodles recipe is the same as that fried rice recipe - I just replace rice with noodles. I think over time I have also added a couple of improvisations (like adding vinegar)

I am also posting this recipe in response to the popular demand (of 1 person).. ARC had commented on the Broccoli with garlic sauce post asking for the fried rice recipe.. and he has reminded me a couple of times since then.. so here it is - just replace noodles with 2 cups of half cooked rice.

Source: My engineering college cold-war-opponent's Mom

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: for 2 people

1 pack of Ching's hakka noodles
2 carrots julienne
8-10 french beans julienne
less than 1/4 cabbage - thinly sliced
1 bunch of french onions finely chopped
1/2 green pepper julienne
4-5 garlic cloves finely chopped
1/2 inch ginger finely chopped
1/2 tsp red chili sauce
1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tbsp vinegar
Salt
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Oil
Water for boiling the noodles

Recipe:

Start heating water for boiling noodles. Add a pinch of salt and a tsp of oil to the water - the oil helps separate the noodle strands even after they are boiled.

Transfer cut carrots and beans in to separate microwave bowls add 1/2 cup water to each bowl. Cover the bowls and microwave each bowl for 1.5 minutes. Separate the half cooked carrots and beans from the water and keep aside. Half cooking carrots and beans ahead of time helps retain the color.

Heat oil in a wok or a pan and when the oil reaches its smoking point add garlic, ginger and grab the lid of the pan in the other hand.. the garlic starts to splutter quite a bit.. now add soy sauce to this hot oil and cover the lid.. and turn the heat to medium - the soy sauce violently splutters with garlic and oil.. open the lid after 20 seconds or so and you will get the aroma of Indo chinese noodles already!

Next steps are really simple - Turn the heat for the wok to medium and add half of the french onions to the oil, sir well till it changes color. Next add cabbage and green peppers - both give out quite a bit of water - don't cover the lid! Let them shallow fry in the soy goodness.. once the mixture looks relatively dry, put carrots and beans and stir well. Add vinegar and crushed pepper and mix well.

Now turn the heat to low and focus on the noodles. To the boiling water in the other pan add the pack of Ching's hakka noodles and cover the lid. Turn the heat to medium and cook the noodles no more than 2 minutes.

Strain the noodles and add to the wok, mix well with the veggies. Cover the lid for half a minute. Garnish with the remaining french onion and enjoy!!!

Kakori Kebab

2010-03-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Story: I love Kakori!! I have never even been there but I love it! I can't think of any other city in India that has its name linked to famous freedom fighters and super-delicious kebabs!

Until I tried this recipe from SK guruji the only thing I knew about the place was the famous Kakori train robbery brilliantly planned by Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan in 1925 as a part of the indian independence movement. No - I am not into history at all.. the credit goes to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra for writing and directing the brilliant movie "Rang de basanti".

Here's how the second encounter happened - one day I was craving for yummy seekh kebabs.. Naturally I went to guruji's website to see if he has the recipe. I bumped into this recipe and the rest is - history! :)

So here's to Sanjeev Kapoor (SK guruji) and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra!

Source: Kebab recipe - Sanjeev Kapoor and Wrap inspiration - Shawarma King restaurant in Boston
Time: 1 hour
Ingredients: For 20-25 1-inch kebabs

1/2 pound ground lamb
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsp Cashew nuts
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp red chili powder - the original recipe calls for a yellow chili powder - I don't know what that is..
salt to taste
1.5 tbsp ghee

Recipe:

Here's a link to the original recipe and here's how I made it: in a small cup grind ginger, garlic, soaked cashew nuts, poppy seeds, garam masala, salt, red chili powder. Add this mixture to the minced lamb and mix well. Now add ghee and mix well.

Make long slender cylinders out of the minced lamb and put skewers through them. Bake in the oven at 400 F for 20-30 minutes till the kebabs look darkish brown.

If you want to turn these yummy starters into a whole meal, get a Pita bread, thinly sliced lettuce, finely cut cucumbers and two delicious dips: Tahini (blend 3 tbsp of lightly toasted sesame seeds, 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt, 2 cloves of garlic, 3 tbsp water) and Hummus (I added extra red chili powder to hummus)

Spread the dips on the pita bread, add lettuce, cucumber and Kakori kebabs and make a kebab wrap.

Vada Pav

2010-03-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

Short Story 1:
My cousin who is brought up in Bhopal moved to Pune. She is used to eating pretty authentic Punjabi food and she & her hubby went to a supposedly "good" Punjabi restaurant in Pune. They ordered 'Maa ki daal' and when the order arrived.. my cousin saw a curry leaf in the Maa ki daal! Her reaction was: "Kadhi patta in Maa ki daal????? - Kabhi Nahin!!!!"
Short Story 2:
My 10 year old niece from Mumbai started missing chatpati bhel-poori during her 1 month visit here.. we were in a food court of a nearby mall and she saw bhel on the menu of the typical north indian shop in the food court.. in spite of our warning my niece ordered the bhel and found cucumber pieces in her bhel! - you guessed right - she said "Cucumber in bhel?? Kabhi Nahin!!"
Short Story 3:
I went to a popular Indian snack shop - I had heard that they have Vada Pav on their menu... pretty excited I ordered the much hyped Vada Pav... the Vada pav was "wrong" (read as not something I am used to) on so many levels - where do I begin? - They have fresh baked pav.. but they use a bun instead!, the masala in the stuffing tastes similar to their dabeli masala.. they don't put tamarind-date chutney in the vada pav but put green chutney.. and to top it all they put fresh cut onion in the bun - like a burger. My reaction was - what you are serving tastes alright - but please.. please don't call it vada pav!!!

Shank being Shank - "It's ok.. They put a Vada inside a pav like thing.. they can call it a Vada pav if they want to..." :-|

To each his/her own I guess - I made Vada Pav for myself.. and of course Shank hogged on it too!

I will end this long story with a funny incidence..

My brother and his friends went to watch 'Darr' back in India and got thoroughly bored by the movie and especially by Shahrukh's kakakaka Kiran.. so total tapori style they started shouting out their own dialogs in the middle of the movie... At one point Shahrukh asks his Mom (direct call to heaven).. "Pata hai Maa.. maine Kiran ko pehli baar kya gift diya?"... and my brother's gang shouted "Vada Pav!!"

Source: Aai (Mom) and Shubha Badve/Naik -My cousin

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients: For 20-25 Vadas

For stuffing:

3 big potatoes, boiled and cut into half inch squares
1 small onion cut into small squares
Paste of 3 garlic cloves and 1/2 inch ginger
Handful finely cut coriander leaves
1 tbsp oil for tadka
2-3 green chilies
5-6 curry leaves
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
a pinch of red chili powder
salt to taste

For coating:

2 cups besan
1/2 tsp red chili powder
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp Mohan/Moyan (oil heated to its smoking point)
water as necessary for a single thread consistency

4-6 cups of oil for deep frying

For serving:

Pav - 20-25
Tamarind date chutney
Shallow fried green chilies with a pinch of salt and a little bit of lemon juice

Recipe:

Add ginger-garlic paste and cut coriander leaves to the boiled potato pieces. Add salt to taste and keep it aside for a few minutes. Make tadka in a pan - heat the oil - add mustard seeds - as they start to crackle, add green chilies and curry leaves. As the curry leaves start to splutter add turmeric powder and cut onion. Mix well. As soon as the onion becomes soft add the tadka on the potato mixture and mix well.. in the process of mixing the potatoes will be half mashed - which is ok!

Now on to the coating...

Take besan in a bowl add salt, red chili powder and mix well. Then add moyan and mix well. Add a little bit of water at a time whisking the mixture to a single thread consistency:

Heat oil in a large pan. Test whether the oil is hot by putting little dots of besan coating in the oil. They should rise to the top immediately and turn light brown in a minute or so..

Take a 2 tbsp of the potato filling and make it into a flat round shape. Dip it in the coating mixture and put the Vadas in the pan for deep frying..

Fry till reddish light brown in color.

Here's a trick for the chutney - You will end up frying lots of besan dots along with the vadas.. crush these besan dots and add dry garlic chutney to the mixture.. oh.. that chutney was soooo good!! - This is inspired from Diwadkar batata vada thela at Karjat train station.. (Mumbai-Pune train travelers are obsessed with Karjat batata vada):

Put tamarind-date chutney on the pav, add the red chutney if you have made it.. then add Vada and enjoy along with shallow fried green chilies..

Bhel Puri

2010-03-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

Story: Bhel aka Bhel-Puri is an ever popular Indian junk food. And like many other recipes - every state, every city - and even every street vendor adds their own twist to the preparation. You know how New England Clam Chowda is different from the clam chowder you get in San Francisco... just like that the Gol-gappe you get in Delhi are different from the Puchkas in Calcutta from the pani puri you get in Mumbai.. Similarly Mumbai bhel is different from Pune bhel another reason for a Mumbaikar-Punekar argument.. I love all varieties given that the Punekar version is the best! ;-)

But the recipe am going to post today is especially close to my heart since it is my Mom's - Aai's recipe - a version of the typical Pune bhel. There are several recipes that are my Aai's best - Bhel, Ragda Patties, Aalu Parantha, Idli Sambar, Ukadiche Modak... I can go on.. The point is - These are the recipes I feel I MUST learn from Aai if I want to be known as her daughter :-)

ok.. enough of the senti talk - let's eat some Bhel - shall we?
Source: Aai
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients: For 2 bhel hungry or 4 non-bhel fanatic people

8 cups puffed rice or churmure or mumra
3-4 cups of farsan - The closest option I have found is Hot Mix from the Indian grocery store. Kaka Halwai from Pune or Mahendra Pedhawala from Ahmednagar were our hot favorites back home. Also - what I call farsan is different from the meaning of the Gujarathi word farsan - snack. I am referring to a mixture of fine shev, gathiya, thick shev, little bit of daal moth - some versions may have peanuts and little bit of chivda
1 medium sized Onion finely cut
2-3 Tomatoes finely cut
Handful coriander leaves - finely cut
1 cup Thin shev
Leftover puris from Pani puri (optional)
1small potato boiled and cut into small cubes (optional)
a small piece of Green mango - finely cut or grated (optional)

For hot - green chutney:

3-4 green chilies
1 inch ginger
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste
2-3 curry leaves and 1 red chili (optional) - Vyas bhel wala from Sambhaji Park told this trick to Aai - good trick for a change

For sweet chutney

Buy a bottle of Tamarind-date chutney from the Indian grocery
Add water as needed to get a thin soup-like consistency
Add a pinch of black salt and a pinch of coriander seed powder and cumin powder

Recipe:

Grind the ingredients for hot - green chutney to a fine paste - Add a little water if you want to get a fine paste.

Mix the ingredients for the sweet chutney.

If you have bought the Hot Mix packet from Indian store - get rid of (read as eat) the muthiyas in that mix - they are delicious - just not suitable for this bhel.

Now take a big bowl and mix the puffed rice and farsan. Add all of the chopped onion, most of the chopped tomatoes (save some for garnish), half of the coriander leaves, a tsp of hot chutney (use more if you like it hot), 3-4 tbsp of sweet chutney and mix well. At this time you could add the optional green mango pieces and boiled potato pieces as well.

Transfer this mixture to the serving plate and garnish in the following sequence:
1. Drizzle 1 tbsp of sweet chutney
2. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of fine shev
3. sprinkle some tomato pieces for contrast with the yellow shev
4. Next is 1 tbsp of finely chopped coriander leaves
5. Optional but recommended - sprinkle crushed pani-puri ki puri

If it were India, this bhel would go on a serving cone made up of news-paper and you would use a small piece of a magazine cover as a spoon... Enjoy!

Farali Sabudana Khichadi

2010-02-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

Story: This post from a blog I follow inspired me to write today's recipe.. the post took me back to Pune in my Mom's kitchen.. reminded me of the taste of home-cooked farali meal...

Real fasting (upwaas/vrat/upaas) is not my cup of tea... it is one of many religious practices followed by lots of people. Thankfully in my religion there's always a loophole for every rule.. for example, if you don't have specific things for a religious ritual you can substitute Akshata - Rice grains with kumkum powder for nearly anything, If you cannot make it to the temple every week, just think of your favorite deity (there's lots of choice with billions of gods) and that's enough. Really - it is the thought and faith that counts! Coming back to fasts - there is a small set of (farali/fariyali) things you are allowed to eat on a day of fast. There is a special meal - farali/fariyali meal that is amazingly delicious and believe it or not- quite heavy! I used to love the days when my mom made this special meal... the best part was - if you did not fast you could eat both - the regular food AND farali food! So I would wake up and have my usual cup of milky coffee and Parle G etc non-farali stuff and then at lunch time I would hog on the special farali meal!!!

Faral Heaven: Upasaache Thalipeeth, Varyache tandul, Daanyachi Aamti, Aamsulachi Chutney, Kelyachi Koshimbeer, Ratalyache kaap, Batatyachi upaasachi bhaaji and Taak

I will be posting all these recipes.. for today - let's start with Sabudana Khichadi!

Source: Aai (my mom)
Time: 30 mins ( + 5 mins prep 4-6 hrs ahead of time)
Ingredients: For 2-3 people

2 cups of Sabudana
Little over a cup water
1 cup crushed/powdered roasted peanuts
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp ghee
1.5 tbsp cumin seeds
2 Green chilies
1 tbsp lemon juice
Garnish - Finely chopped coriander leaves and Fresh grated coconut
Optional but recommended - pieces of 1 boiled potato

Recipe:

Soak sabudana in water 4-6 hours before you plan to make khichadi. This step could make or break the khichadi! Here are a few tips for getting it right:
1. If you see a lot of white powder with the sabudana, use a strainer to get rid of the powder as much as possible
2. Stop adding water to sabudana as soon as the water level is barely above the sabudana.

4-6 hours later, the sabudana should be well soaked and you should be able to see each sabudana kernel separately. Add peanut powder, red chili powder, salt to taste and 1/2 tsp sugar. Taste the mixture and adjust spice level if necessary.

For the tadka - heat ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds and slit green chilies. When the cumin seeds turn brown add the potato pieces and saute until the potatoes are golden brown. Then add the sabudana mixture and mix well with the tadka. Turn the heat to low-medium and keep the khichadi covered for about a minute. Remove the lid and mix well. Repeat this step of covering for a minute followed by stirring till you get a semi soft consistency for sabudana.

Turn the heat off and add lemon juice and mix well.

Garnish with coriander leaves and fresh grated coconut. Sometimes I garnish the khichadi with potato chips or deep fried potato papad like in this picture..

Home made cappuccino or desi espresso

2010-02-17T07:20:00.000-08:00

Story: This story is about enthusiasm... about taking that one extra step when you can easily settle on a 'less than perfect' outcome...

In India we used to call the frothy coffee - espresso for some reason.... it looks very similar to cappuccino. I was fascinated by the thick one inch layer of froth on my coffee every time we ordered espresso - sometimes called expresso :). We would try really hard to get the froth at home by whisking a spoonful of milk, coffee and sugar.. if we got even a little bit of froth with 3-5 minutes of whisking, we used to be quite happy!

Now most of us in the office are ok with the free coffee we get.. but one of my colleagues really cares about her coffee and insists on having frothy cappuccino every single day! I ran into her one day when she was making something in a cup with an instrument that looked like a tiny hand-held blender. When she said it was cappuccino... I waited to see the result and was impressed by the quick and easy way of adding yummy froth to a cup of coffee.

I thought - what enthu this colleague of mine has to keep a bottle of instant coffee in her office and to take that extra minute to make a nice frothy cappuccino.

Of course I peppered her with questions - how do you make this and where did you get that cute little frother etc etc.. Next trip to IKEA I got the frother and tried making cappuccino at home...turned out great!

Source: a colleague
Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 tsp instant coffee
sugar to taste
IKEA frother

Recipe:
Heat a couple of table spoons of milk in a cup for 15 seconds in a microwave. Add coffee and sugar to this warm milk. Use the frother for about a minute to get a thick layer of froth for your coffee. Heat the remaining milk and water and add to the froth. Sprinkle cocoa powder on top to give a nice touch.

Here's a picture of the froth and the frother:

Tomato - Coconut Chutney

2010-02-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

Story: This recipe is an oldie but goodie! I learned it from Meera - my colleague, four years ago. There is not a whole lot to say on the story behind this recipe... but it reminds me of my journey as a cooking enthusiast and that's what I'd like to share with you -

I have always been a foodie... Though until 2001, being a foodie meant enjoying delicious meals cooked by Aai (Mom) or Aaji (Dadi) or on very rare occasions - my brother. My cooking knowledge was limited to Chai, Maggi and not much beyond that.

I remember my Aaji was really concerned about my (non-existent) cooking skills. Aaji would say to Aai - "At least teach her some basic meals like daal-rice. She really doesn't have a clue about cooking." - "Aga, tila jara pithala bhaat tari karayala shikav.. agadich kahi yet nahi tila."

Aai (my mom) would always respond with the same answer: "She will be fine! Anyone who likes to eat tasty food cannot be a bad cook."

Aai - you are sooo right! I moved out for grad school and started cooking on my own. I din't have Aai or Aaji around me to ask for guidance. My taste buds, and fond memories of Aai and Aaji's cooking became my best guide...

Source: Meera (my colleague)

Time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients:

1 Tomato
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
1/2 cup Roasted peanuts
2 green chillies
1 inch ginger
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
Optional - 1/2 green mango/kairi cut into small pieces

For Tadka:

1 tbsp oil
pinch of asafoetida or hing
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 dry red chilli
3-4 curry leaves

Recipe:

Grind the chutney ingredients into the chutney. Don't remove the chutney from the grinder vessel yet.

Heat oil in a small pan. To this hot oil add all the tadka ingredients and let the mustard seeds splutter. Pour this tadka over the chutney and grind it again till the tadka gets completely mixed with the chutney.

This tadka trick works for a lot of chutneys.

Serve with your favorite South Indian snack - Dosa, Uttappam, Vada, Idli or Adai.

Ukadiche Modak

2010-02-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

Story: For anyone from Maharashtra - Ukadiche Modak = Ganapati festival! Modak means hailing 'Ganapati bappa moraya!', enjoying the organized chaos of Ganapati visarjan procession, and of course 'Sukhakarta Dukhaharta' aarti...

But for me - Modak are more than that - ukadiche modak stand for prime-time-failures! I am not sure if it's wise to write about this on my recipe blog.. but here it is anyway.

I believe a typical desi (Indian) daughter-in-law (DIL) tries to impress her in-laws.. AT LEAST til she figures out that it's not possible! ;-) No - I don't buy the "I really don't care what the in-laws think about me." argument. I am no exception to the rule!

I don't want to go into "why" or "whether it is the right or wrong thing to do", but I think - cooking "delicious" meals - continues to be the most promising way of establishing a good impression on most Indian in-laws.

So when I successfully made Ukadiche Modak at the first shot.. I felt great.. and of course I wanted to make Modak for my in-laws... I had made really good Ukadiche modak 2-3 times before my in-laws visited and was very confident that the will turn out just fine!

Guess what - not once - but twice.. I have tried to make Ukadiche modak for Kaka Kaku (in-laws) and have failed!! and what's worse is that I make Ukadiche Modak every year for Ganesh Chaturthi and Anant Chaturdashi (visarjan day). Every year folks rave about the modak and all I can do is send pictures to my in-laws :-) - of course I will try again and I am sure one day my in-laws will eat delicious ukadiche modak made by their DIL..

needless to say it is a bit tricky to get these right..

Source: Aai - My mom makes THE BEST ukadiche modak in this world!!!!

Time: 2-3 hrs

Ingredients: for 12 modaks

2 cups Rice flour (buy as fresh as possible)
2 cups water
1 tsp oil
1 pinch of salt

For the filling

3 cups Fresh grated coconut
1.5 cups thinly sliced or grated jaggery/Gud
Seeds of 2-3 green cardamoms made into a powder
1-2 strands of saffron (optional)
1 tsp ghee/clarified butter

Recipe:

Make the filling mixture before the ukad/steamed rice flour. Heat ghee in a pan just enough to coat the insides of the pan. Add coconut and jaggery to the pan and mix really well till jaggery is completely melted and mixed with the coconut. Depending on the color of the jaggery you will get a pale-dark yellow colored mixture. Add the saffron strands if you want extra color and flavor. then add cardamom powder and mix well. Cover the pan and heat for about a minute on low-medium heat till the coconut is cooked completely.

Use a fine strainer to separate any coarse particles from the rice flour and keep it aside. Heat water along with salt and oil. Wait till you see water boiling. Exactly when the water is boiling, add the rice flour to it and lower the heat. Mix really well till you get a semi-soft blob of steamed rice flour. Keep this pan covered at all times till you are done making modaks..

Take small portions of the teamed rice flour - about a handful at a time and knead really really well.. either with the back side of a bowl or with bare hands coated with cold water. Once you get to a really soft consistency, take a small portion in the size of a lemon.

Press with thumb to dig a well in the ball. Keep pressing gently till you get a thin wall for the well. Add 1.5 tsp of the filling mixture to it. Pinch the walls at 6-7 uniformly spaced points on the well and slowly close the sides to get the shape of a modak.

Steam the modaks for 15-20 minutes like Idli or Dhokla. Enjoy with lots of desi ghee!

Mutter Kachori - Khandan ki Virasat!

2010-01-26T08:24:00.001-08:00

Story: Anyone familiar with Bollywood movies can easily remember lines such as: "Main tumhe jaydaad se bedakhal kar doonga!" or "Kutte, Kamine, Main tera khoon pi jaunga!" or "Beti, ye lo kangan.. mere maa ke hai.. maine apane bahu ke liye sambhal ke rakhe the!".... I can go on forever..

For this post though - I want you to remember a Father-Son conversation from any Yash-Raj or K-JO style movie.. Of course the father & son belong to an extremely rich family called Singhania or Malhotra or Khanna or in this case Raichand (Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham)! .. One day I am going to make a movie that has characters from the Apte Khandan or Kulkarni, Aiyer or Swaminathan khandan.. ;-)

anyways.. back to the scene - The father played by Big B or Alok Nath or Anupam Kher... is handing over his company to the son on his birthday! - They stand in front of pictures of old men.. describing them one by one..The Father: "Beta, ye hai tumhare ParDada - Jaivardhan Raichand! Woh ye the, woh the.. yada yada yada"... "Aur ye hai tumhare Dadaji - Harshvardhan Raichand!.. yada yada yada.." "Raaj, Main aaj iin maha purushonki virasat tumhe de raha hun!".....

Today's recipe for Mutter Kachori is one such Virasat! Passed on from my hubby's par-nani to his nani to his mom to his sister and to me!!!!

Main ye mahan virasat aaj tum sab ko de rahi hun!

Source: Shank's par-nani to nani to MIL to me!

Time: Takes a long time! - preferably split over two days..

Ingredients: (for 40-50 kachoris)

1 pack of frozen peas (about 4 cups)
10-12 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger
4-5 green chillies (add more if you like it spicy)
salt to taste
1 cup Shredded dry coconut
2 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds

For the coating:

4 cups of Maida (all purpose flour)
1/2 cup Oil
2 tbsp Lemon juice (for a crispy, multi-layer coating - idea from Madhu-ben)
Salt - about 1/2 tsp

Recipe:

Roast coconut and cumin powder on a pan until the coconut gets a light brown color and you can smell the aroma of heated cumin seeds. Then grind this mixture to a dry masala and keep it aside.

Grind peas, ginger, garlic and green chilies into a non-uniform paste. Heat 1/2 cup oil in a large pan and add this mixture to the oil. Saute patiently on low-medium heat for 30 minutes or so. Towards the end - as the mixture becomes more and more dry, add the coconut-cumin masala and salt to taste. Mix well and saute for another 5 minutes.

Let this kachori mixture cool down to room temp.

In the mean time, you can mix the dough for the coating of the kachori.. Mix maida, Oil, lemon juice and salt. Add water as needed to get a soft dough. Keep the dough covered for a couple of hours.

Now the assembly - flatten the dough into small (3 inch diameter) circles. Add 2 tsp of kachori mixture and close the dough to form a stuffed ball. Lightly press this ball to flatten the kachori.

You can make these kachoris in advance and store them in the fridge for at least a couple of weeks. Defrost and deep fry till golden brown when you want to serve these.

Serve with Tamarind-date chutney and thin shev. Or you can serve it Indore's Baluchi kachori style, with finely cut onion, coriander and chilies and shev and chutney!

Avocado chutney

2010-01-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

Story: Kaka (my FIL) is always thinking of innovative ways of changing standard recipes... of course someone else has to implement them.. :-) but Kaka sure encourages you to think outside the box when it comes to food. For example - one of the things he invented is an uttapam french toast - put uttapam batter on a slice of bread and heat it like a french toast - eat with ketchup and chutney.... doesn't sound interesting? You should hear how Kaka describes it or shall I say market it. You will feel like it is something out of this world and not to be missed! In all fairness the uttapam french toast does taste pretty good.. it is a good twist on the same old uttapam.

Here's one of my own.. that worked pretty well..

I had home made Molagai Podi or Chutney Powder.. and I usually mix it with yogurt to serve with Uttapam.. But I wanted something different that day.. Opening the fridge door opens endless possibilities.... I saw an Avocado.. and decided to use it in the chutney..

Everyone loved the taste.. and I liked the recipe because it takes only 15-20 minutes to make it!

Source: AshaCool kitchen
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:

2 tbsp Molagai Podi (home made or store bought MTR chutney podi)
1 Avocado - Peel the avocado and remove the seed, cut into 3-4 large squares
1 Tomato
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Recipe:

Blend all the ingredients in a blender. Serve with hot uttapams. It would be a real nice dip for chips or fresh veggies.

If you are interested in the home made Molagai Podi aka Chutney Pudi recipe, please see the post on Adai.

Softening Khaman or Dhokla

2010-01-07T07:38:00.001-08:00

GK: What is the difference between Khaman and Dhokla?? ...
Khaman is made from besan or chana daal whereas Dhokla is made from a mixture of rice and urad or moong or any non-chana daal.

Thanks to Madhu ben I tried to make Khaman at home - from the ready to cook Khaman pack ;-). Since the recipe for ready-to-cook khaman is written on the pack itself - I won't bore you with that..

This quick post is about a tip for the tadka..

Once Khaman/Dhokla is ready, make tadka with oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chili and white sesame seeds. Once the tadka starts to splutter add about a cup of water in the tadka and let the water heat a little bit with the tadka.. now add a spoonful sugar in this mixture and stir well.

Pour this mixture over the khaman!

Adding water to the tadka is a real nice way to get a soft, moist texture and a slightly sweet taste.

Rava Uttapam

2010-01-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

Story: Don't you love recipes that are quick, easy and tasty! This Rava Uttapam recipe is perfect for a weekday dinner or a lazy weekend brunch.

My Mavashi (Mausi/Mom's sister) takes a practical and efficient approach to everything in life including cooking. Mavashi showed me how to make these uttapam a few years back.. and now Rava Uttapam has become a regular in my house. While we are talking about efficiency, whenever I make uttapam I use the Presto griddle to make as many as six uttapam at a time! I would highly recommend the griddle if you make dosas, uttapams, paranthas etc often enough.

A quick chutney is ready in minutes if you mix MTR Molagai Podi with dahi. If you have a few more minutes mix the Molagai Podi with avocado, tomato and lemon juice.. simply delicious! I will soon post a recipe for the avocado chutney....

So feel free to spend some extra time with friends after work - a tasty uttapam meal is less than 30 minutes away!

Source: My Mausi - Dr. Mrs. Asha Badve

Time: 30 minues

Ingredients:

2 cups Rava (Suji/Semolina)
1/2 cup Rice flour
1/2 Onion finely cut
1 Tomato cut into small squares
1 inch ginger shredded or 1 tsp ginger paste
1 garlic clove shredded or 1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 green chili finely chopped
Handful coriander leaves finely chopped
little over a cup of yogurt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp red chili powder
salt to taste

Recipe:

Mix everything except dahi/yogurt in a bowl. Adjust salt in the dry mixture as needed.

Add yogurt/dahi till the mixture becomes soft. When it comes to this recipe more dahi is better than less .. so make sure the dry ingredients have soaked enough dahi. Keep this mixture covered for 5 ish minutes. Add water to get the consistency of pancake batter.

That's it - heat a non stick pan and make uttapam exactly like a pancake. Spread the batter in round shape and heat on one side till you get crispy texture and brown color. then heat on the other side for a couple of minutes to get a tasty uttapam!

Pav Bhaji

2009-12-29T07:44:00.000-08:00

Story: How do you describe something that is too familiar to you? Really.. it is hard - someone recently asked me what do you like the most about Shank - my hubby... and there was a really long pause... then I thought - I just know I like him.. it's been 10+ yrs since we met... and I have stopped thinking/analyzing why I like him so much. No - I am not trying to compare Pav Bhaji with my husband.. I am trying to say that my love affair with Pav Bhaji started such a long time ago that words just cannot describe the taste of the first bite or the experience of eating Pav Bhaji at an authentic thela back home...

Having said all that - I will take a shot at decribing one of my first Pav Bhaji encounters...

Rewind to 1980's... A happy Punekar family of mom-dad and three kids (me and my siblings).. A cheerful cousin brother Prashant who had just graduated from engineering college and had moved to Pune for work... Every Thursday was a day off for Prashant and for Baba (dad in Marathi). More important reason to love Thursdays was the Pav Bhaji ritual/tradition - Prashant would come over, and we all would head to a group of thelas near Natraj talkies (a Cinema theater) to eat Amul Pav Bhaji!!!! Casual roadside seating, fragrance and taste of Amul butter oozing out of the red-orange colored Bhaji, unending orders of extra paav-jodis (pairs of pav) and above all the warm feeling of having a great time with family.... I guess that's what Pav Bhaji stands for...

This is not a recipe for "Khada" pav bhaji in which you can feel individual pieces of potatoes, onions and other veggies.. this one is the smooth textured, mashed Pav Bhaji and the only thing that stands out is the green peas.

So you think you can make Pav Bhaji: :-) I am sure you can - For recipes as common as Pav Bhaji - I decided to list specific things that I think make a difference:

Amul butter - the more the tastier - If it's not Amul - it's not suitable for Pav Bhaji.. Some one said - Pav Bhaji without Amul butter is like honeymoon without a wife.. Yes - make that extra trip to the Indian grocery and get the real deal - It looks like this:

Boiled mixed veggies blended into a puree - manual mashing won't give the same smooth texture.. and this is a good way of including carrots, beans and other nutritious veggies in the meal.
Mixture of canned tomato puree and fresh tomato puree - good combination of taste and color
Beet Root water for natural color - It looks fantastic!! very close to the thela wala color. Whenever you boil a beet root save the red colored water. It lasts for a couple of months in the fridge.
Everest Pav Bhaji masala - any other masala does not give the same taste
If you can - get Pav Bhaji Pav from an Indian bakery - NO - burger buns are NOT a substitute for Pav!

Source: Aai (Mom), Smita Amdekar (for beet root color trick), Aruna Kulkarni (Aruna Mavashi)

Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

1 large red onion really really finely cut
3 potatoes boiled and mashed into a smooth mixture
3 cups of frozen cut mixed veggies (carrots, peas, corn and beans) - boiled in about two cups of water, strained and pureed in a blender
1/2 cup of canned tomato puree
2-3 tomatoes pureed in a blender
1 cup of beet root juice/water
1 cup of defrosted green peas
Handful chopped coriander leaves
Amul butter
Everest Pav Bhaji Masala
Red chili powder
Salt to taste
1 dozen Pav

For garnish

Medium size red onion really finely cut
Handful chopped coriander leaves
Juice of half a lemon
salt, red chilli powder
Small Lemon wedges

Recipe:

Heat one inch cube of Amul butter in a pan. Once butter is melted add finely cut onions to the pan and shallow fry for about a minute on medium heat. Turn the heat to low-medium and cover the pan for about half a minute. The onion should be sweating by now..

Add pureed mixed veggies and fresh tomato puree and mix well with the onions. Turn the heat up to medium. Add 1/2 inch cube of Amul butter and mix well till the butter is melted completely. Add 1 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala, 1/2 tsp red chili powder, a little bit of salt and mix well. Cover the pan for about a minute and a half.

Add mashed potatoes to the pan and mix well with the rest of the ingredients. Add 1 inch cube of Amul butter and mix well till the butter is melted. Add 1/2 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala, a pinch of chili powder and salt. Mix well. Taste the mixture and adjust spice level as per your taste.

Add defrosted green peas, chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Cover the lid for about a minute so that peas are half cooked. Now add last (optional) 1/2 inch cube of Amul Butter and mix well till it melts.

Add beet root juice/water and mix well till the color is uniform throughout the bhaji. cover the lid and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.

For garnishing, mix chopped onions, cotriander leaves, salt, chili powder and lemon juice.

Cut all the Pavs into two halves. Heat a pan for toasting Pav. Melt a little butter on the pan and heat a pair of pav with the white side on the pan. Once the white side is crispy and golden, tunr the Pav and heat a little bit on the brown side.

Serve hot with the garnish, extra butter and a side of Masala Papad..

Broccoli with Garlic Sauce

2009-12-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

Story: This recipe is hot off the oven... just made it yesterday. There were a couple of Chinese take out boxes of white rice left over. I was looking for something quick and easy to make.. so decided on fried rice. But then I was thinking - how can we eat just fried rice. We need some gravy to go with it. Then as always - there was exploration of the fridge.. I found fresh broccoli and thought let me try Broccoli with garlic sauce in addition to the fried rice. I used to think scope creep happens only in software projects until I got into cooking!

BTW the real story of 'Broccoli with Garlic Sauce' goes way back to grad school days.. (about 6 yrs ago). For any college - there is always this one thela/food stall that is open till late, serves oily, spicy but mouth-watering junk food... a fertile place for fond memories of late night "study" sessions with roommates, dinners that lasted for hours with non-sense chitchat... you get the picture. For us, Dragon Dynasty in Worcester is that place!

Broccoli with garlic sauce, Curry chicken, Veg Lo Mein, Crab Rangoon... we hogged on so many favorites over the course of two years of grad school.

I can no way claim that this recipe can give you the real deal.. but it did remind me of Dragon Dynasty.. and it tastes really good. I took it to work for lunch today and a couple of friends qualified it as "blogworthy"..

so here it goes..

Source: AshaCool kitchen, Fond memories of grad school.. and the taste of everlasting friendships

Time: 1/2 hour

Ingredients:

6-8 garlic cloves finely chopped
1/2 inch ginger julienne cut
1 whole dry red chili
1 tsp red chili flakes (add more if you like it hot)
1/2 cup Soy sauce
1 cup water
2 tbsp sweet and sour sauce
1 tbsp corn flour
1 tbsp vinegar
1 red pepper cut into 1 inch squares
1/2 green pepper cut into 1 inch squares
1 small onion cut into 1 inch squares
1/2 bunch of french onions finely chopped
of course a small bunch of Broccoli - 10-15 1 inch florets
2 tbsp oil

Recipe:

Boil water with a little bit of salt. Blanch Broccoli florets with the hot water and keep aside.

For the gravy, take Soy sauce, chili flakes, a pinch of chopped garlic, sweet and sour sauce, corn flour and water and mix really well. I just blend the mixture in a small blender. Taste the mixture and add more chili flakes or sweet and sour sauce as per your choice.

Heat oil in a wok on high heat till it reaches smoking point. Turn the heat to medium, add ginger, garlic, dry red chili and 1 tsp Soy sauce and cover the lid. Let the ingredients sputter a bit for half a minute or so, add a little bit of the french onions in the mixture and mix well. Add onions, red peppers and green peppers to the wok and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. When the peppers start to sweat a little, add the gravy mixture and turn the heat up between medium and high. Mix the gravy mixture well with the peppers and onions. Add vinegar and mix well. Let the gravy thicken a bit.. as it cooks, it becomes a bit sticky because of the corn flour. Once the gravy is sticky, add Broccoli florets and mix for no more than 1/2 minute. This way the Broccoli florets stay crunchy. Add rest of the french onion and mix well.

Serve hot with Chinese Fried Rice or White Rice.

Adai Dosa

2009-12-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

Story: I should change the name of this blog to - 'Chefs that inspired me'... I have realized that I almost always end up writing about someone special that shared their recipe with me and/or inspired me to cook.. Today's post is definitely about such a 'chef next door' - literally - : ) -it's my ex-neighbor and a really good friend, Smita Amdekar.

Ever since we moved to our new home I have known Smita as an unlimited source of energy, sheer enthusiasm, and most importantly - delicious food! Something as simple as salsa, paav bhaji, kayras, to anything as complicated as malai pedha, every single preparation by Smita is OUTSTANDING in taste. With her skill Smita should have been a pro chef..

It's been about a year and a half ..... Me, Shank and Manasi went over at Smita's for brunch and she had made Adai dosas with coconut chutney, tomatoe chutney, chutney pudi and sambhar... Smita is a purist especially when it comes to Telugu cooking - so she made Adai on a thick cast iron tawaa with lots of ghee.. The nutty taste of the daals in the adai batter with the khushboo of ghee .... man - Smita - we officially miss you!!! Until next time we have the pleasure of eating one of your delicacies - we will have to survive on my efforts to follow the adai recipe..

I will end by describing an incidence that speaks for Smita's enthusiasm and skill -

Smita & company were about to move to India for good.. on something like the Thursday of that week.. so I insisted that they come over for dinner on Wednesday. So Smita din't have to think about cooking etc. While we were talking to Smita about Wednesday - she could not help but ask - " Tumhi mazya haatchi paav bhaji khalli aahe ka?" - "Have you had the paav bhaji that I make?" - we said - "not yet".. :-) and that was it - Smita made professional quality paav bhaji and blew us away with her skill one more time - that too - one day before leaving for India...

oh - and did I mention Smita is a successful techie professional and a mother of two lovely kids -

hats off to you Smita : )

P.S. - Let me say something before someone else points it out - Smita might have insisted on cooking because of her knowledge of my cooking skills at that time ;-)

Source: Smita Amdekar

Time: 2-3 hrs - Needs 1.5 days for preparation of the batter

Ingredients:

For 25-30 Adai dosa

1 katori (1/2 cup) White Urad Daal
1 katori Chana Daal
1 katori Toor Daal
1 katori Moong Daal
4 katori Rice

For 2-3 cups of chutney pudi

2 katori Chana Daal
1/2 katori Dry red chillies (Smita recommends 1 katori - but I find it too hot)
1/4 katori White Urad Daal

Recipe:

For Adai batter - Soak rice and daals in water for 5-6 hrs. Then remove extra water and grind daal and rice to a paste. Cover this paste and let it ferment overnight.

The batter is ready the next morning - add water as needed before making Adai dosas on a hot tawa. Refer to this post or any other suitable online resource for instructions on how to spread the batter on the tawa.

Once Adai dosa is almost ready - add potato sabji or chutneypudi and serve with steaming hot sambhar and coconut chutney...

For Chutney pudi - Dry roast the ingredients on low-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Then grind with a pinch of hing/asafoetida and salt as needed.

Taste of Italy..

2009-11-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

I used to think westerners have no idea about cooking "real" (as good as Indian) vegetarian food... it's not like I have been to a lot of places around the world - but hey - let's face it - we are all prejudiced..

I must say I was wrong - big time - :-) glad to admit it - I simply loved the food in Italy - especially the vegetarian food. Just thinking about Italy takes me to a food utopia!!

Without further ado let's go on a food trail in Italy...

First stop - Trattoria Quattro Leoni in Florence - Trattoria in Italian means a casual diner.

We started with Caprese Salad - Tomatoes, Fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil and olive oil. It is as simple as that - no fancy decorations needed - the food is fancy enough :-).

Here's a testimonial for the salad - Shank - my hubby, claims that he hates cheese.. and really stays away from cheesy stuff here in the US. That day he ate one whole ball of mozzerella cheese!!! Now he claims that he hates cheese from everywhere else except Italy :-)

It must be something about the Italian climate and the quality of soil or whatever - even a lame veggie like tomato tastes great.. every single ingredient has this beautiful natural flavor that makes even a simple combination like caprese salad taste heavenly!

Highlight of the meal was this pasta... I cannot stop raving about it - Hand made pasta into a shape similar to a modak - it was stuffed with dried pear - yes the fruit pear - and served with white sauce - Simply Divine!!!

Death By Chocolate

We planned most of our trip as per Rick Steves guide book. I can write a whole post about how great and extremely usable the guidebook is.... I think for now it is sufficient to say that we were carrying and using it at all times during our trip. Rick highly recommended this dessert - Death by Chocolate at Tre Scalini cafe in Piazza Navona in Rome. It was described as the best in the world etc etc.. Shank being a chocolate fanatic - we hadta taste it.. so we did..

It was totally worth the hype! Multi-layered ball of chocolate - starting from outside - a thin layer of frozen chocolate fudge, followed by a thick layer of chocolate mouse, followed by a sticky chocolate mixture and a rum-soaked cherry at the center. and they serve it with whipped cream on top - what's not to like!

Shank din't let me eat more than a few bites.. and said "I can do anything for love.. (but I won't do that)"

RistoCampo Panini

Campo de fiori is a happening, college hang out piazza (square) in Rome. This panini place - called Risto Campo was full of college students having snacks and beer. You could choose what goes in the panini.. I had a combination of spicy pickled peppers, chicken and cheese. Yumm!! It was quite late - around 10.30 at night - and we started walking to the closest bus stop while eating the panini.. Both of us loved the taste soo much that we went back for another one :-)

Anonymous Bakery near Piazza San Giovanni in Rome:
According to Rick Steves - and common sense - a restaurant filled with local people and lots of traffic usually guarantees great taste.... very true when it comes to this bakery. This bakery was 2 minutes from our hotel near Piazza San Giovanni in Rome.

Their spread had a variety of grilled veggies, Pizza, cookies, bread and all of it was fresh out of the oven. They were running out of the Pizza so fast that every time I walked up to the counter there was a new steaming hot variety available!

Here's a testimonial to this place and the in general to the taste of veggies in Italy - we had fresh zucchini pizza... the center picture below and it was as tasty as the tomato-spicy olive pizza!

Of course we also hogged on the grilled mushrooms, eggplants and tomatoes and ended the affair with fresh baked cookies.

Paav Bhaji Pasta!

When a menu in Italy says something is spicy - they mean it! We had a spicy (tikha/chamchameet) pasta in Di Gallo - right across from the Duomo in Florence. It was so spicy I called it Pav Bhaji pasta..

One of my colleagues who is Italian said to me that he does not "get" Indian food.... The reason is the use of spices - the flavors in Indian food are too complex - he said - Indian food will have saffron in rice, but then they will also add cloves and bay leaves and cardamom etc etc.. whereas a typical Italian sauce or pasta dish has one primary spice - at most two - and still it is delicious. I agree with him completely - the use of spices is very different in Indian food as compared to Italian.

For example this pasta had tomatoes, olive oil, paprika and parsley - that's it. The quality of the ingredients takes care of the rest!

Couple of common highlights -

1. Gelato - Italian icecream. We had several gelatos over our 9 day trip and all of them were great! Especially on a hot summer day when you are taking long walks to sight see..

2. Cappuccino - Italians know how to make cappuccino. We had at least two everyday. Thoroughly refreshing! Imagine sitting in a roadside cafe in Piazza Navona looking at upcoming artists selling beautiful paintings and sipping away your cappuccino..

Napoli - Birthplace of Pizza
We had to take a ferry from Naples to go to Capri islands - and we had enough time in Naples to taste the pizza - they say Napoli/Naples is the birth place of pizza. Here's a picture of Pizza Margarita - real simple with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and basil - the three colors of the Italian flag :)

Olives in Capri

I know - you are probably saying - what's the big deal with Olives... I tell you the olives we had in the bar of Cesar Augustus resort were out of this world!!!! The texture is imprinted in my mouth. I think the main difference is - these olives are not pickled for too long. So the olive was tart and you could bite into it. The cocktail - Champagne Pick me up - complimented the olives very well...

We ordered another cocktail just so we could get another bowl of olives.. oh - I wish I could go back to Cesar Augustus..
Have to mention Venice.... The Realto Bridge and surrounding Realto Market is full of small eateries. This was where we had first real Pizza - right out of the oven - full of flavors of fresh veggies just awesome!

Popular spots in the evening are small crowded pubs that serve yummy finger food. You can also dine in one of the canal side restaurants - we did that - and the food was pretty good - but not the best in our trip.

"If I weren't an Indian - I'd want to be an Italian"

I think I know why we were feeling at home in Italy - Similarity between Italian and Indian culture is striking.. Food and cooking is a significant part of their lifestyle... Small trattoria cooking family recipes is a very common scene... Officials at the train station or bus stations are least interested in helping you.. they will give you rude looks if you ask 'stupid' questions like a tourist.. but if you ask the same questions to a common man - you will get a completely different treatment. They will insist to accompany you to make sure you got the directions correctly. Law and enforcement is considered as a 'nice to have' - you are expected not to do stupid things like keeping valuable things like your iPhone in a vulnerable spot.. you should know it is an easy target for pick pockets....

I can go on and on.. Basically I agree with the way Shalaka said it -
"If I weren't an Indian - I'd want to be an Italian"

Bala Daal

2009-11-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

Story: Great inventions are often results of happy accidents... This daal fry recipe is the result of an experiment Bala did as a compromise.. who is Bala? are - kya baat kar rahe ho - you don't know Bala? - I had mentioned his name in the Stuffed Italian Peppers post. - What? - you don't read every post on my blog - c'mmon..

just kidding..

Bala is my (SIL's SIL)'s hubby or more conveniently referred to as my distant cousin.. :)
Bala and Shalaka (Mrs. Bala) are both foodies.... and we often cook together when they are visiting.

One day Bala was making daal fry for us with 5-6 different daals.. he couldn't find Kali Urad so he used Moth/Mataki/Turkish gram instead. Usually matki is sprouted before using it in salad or in Usal.. But it was used as is in daal fry and it turned out great! My sis - Manasi loved the taste sooo much that she insisted I make it more often..

This simple substitution made a lot of difference! The taste of Moth dominates the rest of the daals. A great way to add pizazz to the same old 'ghisi-piti' daal fry.

So keep experimenting in the kitchen... and let me know about your inventions :)

Source: Rajinder Balaraman aka Bala

Time: 1/2 hr

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry Moth
1 tbsp chana daal
2 tbsp masoor daal
2 tbsp moong daal (can substitute with toor daal)
1 tbsp white urad daal
1 medium size onion - sliced
1 tomatoe cut into 1/2 inch cubes
For tadka : 2 dry red chillies, 4-5 coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 small bay leaf/tej patta
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp kasoori methi
handful chooped coriander leaves

Recipe:
Add all the daals to a pressure cooker vessal and add 2 cups of water and cook for about 10 minutes or till you hear 3 whistles from the pressure cooker. Turn the heat low-medium for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the daal cook till the pressure is reduced enough to open the lid.. it typically takes 3-5 minutes.

Heat ghee in a pan till it melts completely.. add tadka ingredients and mix well for about a minute. When you can smell the aroma of cumin, coriander seeds and tej patta, add sliced onions. Shallow fry onion silces till they turn brown... I like it best when they turn a bit black and crispy.

Once the onions are ready - add cooked daal and mix well with the onions. Then add about 2 cups of water and mix well. Cover the daal and bring it to a boil.

When the daal comes to a boil, add chopped tomatoe, garam masala, kasoori methi and salt to taste. Mix well and bring to a boil. Add coriander leaves for garnish and enjoy with your favorite pulao or just white rice.

just a note - in my experience this mixed daal needs more salt than our regular toor or moong daal.

Pani Puri or Gol Gappe

2009-11-08T15:27:00.000-08:00

Story: I have yet to meet an Indian who does not like Pani Puri aka Gol Gappe - For me - "Sirf Naam hi Kaafi hai!" Mouth watering taste of Pani Puri never gets old! Growing up - favorite menu for my Bday party was - Bhel, Pani Puri and home-made Pizza with Amul Cheese.

I decided to make Pani Puri for this year's bday party - and knew it would be a big hit.. But this year's Pani Puri was special for a different reason - We had HOME MADE PURIs!!! that too Suji/Rava puris and not maida puris.. Crispy, crunchy fresh puris.. and the credit goes to Madhu-ben who helps me in the kitchen and has a ton of specialties. This is the first time she made Puris at home and they were just fabulous.. especially her technique of flattening and heating the puri in a Tortilla maker is very innovative.

Here's to an Indian's eternal love for Pani Puri and to Madhu-ben's innovative puri recipe!

Source: Home-made Puri recipe - Madhu-ben, Green chutney - MIL aka Kaku
Time: 1/2 day (with store-bought puris) to 1 day (home made puris)
Ingredients:

For Filling in the Puri

1 cup white chana or 1 cup chick pea
1 cup whole moong
2-3 potatoes

For Tikha (hot) Pani

1 large bunch of cleaned mint leaves with stems in tact
2 green chillies - add 3 if you like it spicy
3-4 cloves
6 black peppercorns
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp kaala namak
2 liter water
2 tbsp tamarind paste

For Mitha (sweet) Pani: I just get store bought Tamarind-date chutney, and add cumin powder, black salt and water as needed

For 50 Puris

1.5 cup suji/rava
1/2 cup club soda
Tortilla maker

Recipe:

If you are planning to make puris at home, thoroughly mix rava and soda and keep it covered for 2 hours. We will cover the rest of the puri recipe after we make tikha pani..

Now on to Tikha Pani - Blend mint leaves, green chillies, cumin seeds, cloves, pepper and black salt into a paste.. taste and add salt as needed.
In another bowl - mix water with tamarind pulp. Add the mint chutney to this mixture.
Keep this in the fridge overnight.

Next day, filter this mixture to get chatpata tikha pani! You can reuse the chutney residue for another round of tikha Pani..

For Mitha (sweet) Pani: I just get store bought Tamarind-date chutney, and add cumin powder, black salt and water as needed.

Now on to the filling - Soak white chana and moong in water for 3-4 hours. Pressure cook both chana and moong with added salt, cumin powder (1tsp) and coriander powder (1 tsp).
For potatoe filling - boil and mash the potatoes, then add salt, red chilli powder (1/2 tsp) and cumin powder (1 tsp) and mix well.

If you have store bought puris - you are ready to assemble the Pani Puris - Take a Puri, make a hole in it, stuff with a tsp of the filling. Then add tikha pani and mitha pani as per your taste. Once the Puri is full of this spicy goodness.. take it all in!!!

If you are enthu enough to make your own Puris (I think it's worth it if you have help..) here goes the recipe:

As mentioned earlier - Thoroughly mix rava and soda and keep it covered for 2 hours.

Heat about 2 liters of oil for deep frying.

Knead the dough again until it's soft.. Connect a Tortilla Maker to power and start heating.. once it is hot, add 4-5 balls of the dough (1 cm diameter) to the tortilla maker and press it once. Quickly open the tortilla maker and remove the puris - add to hot oil immediately for deep frying. The flat puris instantaneously puff into puris..

Deep fry the puris on slow-medium heat till golden brown.. remove and place on a paper napkin to dry. Do not increase the heat or remove puris before they change color. Puri's will go soggy if they are not fried for enough time.. if you increase the heat - you may burn the puris.

Store cooled and dried puris in air tight containers.

Ricotta Orange Pound Cake with Strawberries

2009-11-03T05:57:00.000-08:00

Story:
I LOVE watching a number of shows on food network.... My favorites include Giada De Laurentiis, Boby Flay, Ellie Krieger, and many more. I am absolutely jealous of Guy Fieri and his role on the show Diners, drive-ins and dives.. I wish there were a similar show in India that explored the countless thelaas and the delicious food.. and I dream of being the host for that show.. anyway - in short I am a food network junkie.

I am more into spicy food than sweets.. but the audience - my hubby :) is majorly in love with anything sweeeeeeeeet.. According to Shank there is no such thing as 'too sweet'. So when it comes to making desserts - I usually look for recipes on food network or on other blogs.

This recipe is great because of the fresh fruity flavors. I modified it a little bit and made it into a two tier cake with fruit and syrup between the two layers.. Ricotta cheese makes the cake real moist and butter - well you can never have enough butter in a pound cake.

Welcome to 100% pure indulgence...

Source: Link to the original recipe from Giada

Time: 3-4 hours

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature, plus more to grease the baking pan
1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 orange, zested
2 tablespoons Amaretto - I used Rum instead..
Powdered sugar, for dusting
1 pint strawberries/raspberries, hulled and quartered or 3 oranges, cut into supremes

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8 inch round cake pans. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla, orange zest, and Rum until combined. Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated.

Pour the mixture into the two prepared pans and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 45 to 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the strawberries (or orange supremes) in a small bowl with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Let sit until the juices have pooled around the strawberries.

Once the cakes are out - Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Place the lower layer of the cake on a flat surface, with a mesh sieve, dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar. Add a layer of strawberries or orange supremes - spread it evenly on the cake. Place the top layer of the cake and add another layer or strawberries or orange supremes along with the syrup.

Pohyacha Chivada

2009-10-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

Story:

Is it a rule that all mom's have to be awesome cooks? Definitely true in my family! This one's from my mother in law - whom I fondly call Kaku.. What makes Kaku really special as a cook is the breadth of her knowledge. Kaku was brought up in Delhi, then moved to Kolkata, then to Gwalior, Indore followed by Mumbai and now of course living in the best place on the face of earth - Pune ;-) Kaku has mastered specialties from everywhere and she has a wealth of knowledge to share with new kids like me.. being a Math graduate - Kaku's recipes are as precise as computations in MATLAB! They just work!

Needless to say Shank, my hubby is insanely in love with this Chivda that Kaku makes.... I remember in college when I'd visit Shank during exam "preparation leave".. Shank would have a huge container of Chivda in one hand and a book in the other. He used to finish a container per week during exam times. And whenever Kaku visits us here in the US, the Chivda riot continues.

This time Kaka-Kaku visited for about 6 months - and we really got used to Chivda. Kaku is back in Pune now.. but Shank was really longing for the Chivda taste. So I got the recipe from Kaku and the taste turned out to be just perfect!

So here's to Kaku -

Source: Mrs. Aparna Kulkarni (aka MIL aka Kaku)

Time: 1 hr

Ingredients:

8 katori thin poha
2 katori puffed rice (murmura/mumra)
1 katori daala (dried chanaa daal)
1 katori peanuts
3/4 katori sliced dry coconut

For Tadka:

2.5 tbsp oil
2 green chillies with a vertical slit
5-6 curry leaves
1 pinch Asafoetida/Hing
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
a pinch of chili powder

For chiwada spice mix / masala:

5-6 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sugar

Recipe:

Masala Recipe: Heat cloves and cumin seeds in a pan and grind to make powder. Add a tsp of sugar and mix well to get chivada masala.

Chivada Recipe: Roast thin poha in a pan till it becomes crispy. I suppose you could also roast it in a microwave oven - but I haven't tried it yet. Keep the roasted poha aside.

Tadka - Heat oil in a large pan. When it reaches smoking point add hing and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to crackle, turn the heat low to medium. Now add green chillies and curry leaves. Once the curry leaves look a bit crispy, add turmeric powder.

Add peanuts to the hot tadka, shallow fry for about 2 minutes.
Add coconut slices, shallow fry till they become golden brown.
Add dry chana daal and mix well for less than a minute.

Add salt to taste and a pinch of red chili powder and turn the heat to the lowest setting.

Add roasted poha, murmura (puffed rice). Don't forget to add Chivda masala!
Now mix well and try not to break the crispy pohas while you mix the savory goodness..

Turn the heat off and spread the Chivda on paper towels so that it doesn't get soggy. Also the paper towel will absorb any excessive oil.

Eat it as is - or to spice it up - I add a mixture of fresh slices of onion with a tiny bit of fresh grated ginger, loads of lemon juice and finely chopped coriander leaves.

Tip: Daala or dried chana daal is different from regular chana daal. In the following picture left one is regular chana daal and right side is the dried or dessicated version. Sometimes called chana daal daliya. Use the right one for making Chivda.

Bong style Salmon

2009-10-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

Story: During my India trip last year, we went to Prakruti Resorts for a family vacation. The resort is ultimate and so is the food! Ever since I had patra ni machhi in Prakruti I wanted to try making it at home.

I am a HUGE fan of Sanjeev Kapoor (more like a follower of the SK sect!). I figured SK Guruji must have covered some version of patra ni machhi in his cooking bhagwat geeta.. I found something similar - it is called Bhapa Ilish.

My recipe is a modified version of SK recipe (sorry Guruji). To keep it simple - I don't use any leaves.. I use aluminum foil instead. I steam the fish for a few minutes and then grill it on a tava or a grille depending on the season.. Result - A-MA-ZING ly moist fish with a surface char.. oh.. I love it!

I think I said on a previous post - in Coolkarni family - if it's fish - it's good! My in-laws were "visiting" for last six months :-) and we grilled fish, paneer, bhutta almost every weekend... I made this Bong style fish several times ... And it was paisa wasool!

So here's to Prakruti Resorts, SK Guruji, and my fish-loving family..

Source: Sanjeev Kapoor aka SK Guruji, and inspirations from Food Network

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

2 Salmon steaks
3 green chillies
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
3 tbsp mustard oil
1 inch ginger grated
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Recipe: Rub salt, lemon juice and a pinch of turmeric powder on the Salmon steaks and keep them aside.. Grind the rest of the ingredients (except mustard oil) to form a paste. Apply this paste to the Salmon steaks and keep covered for 10 minutes. Heat water in a pressure cooker without closing the lid.

Move the fish into a cooker vessel without water. Add mustard oil all over the fish.

Place this cooker vessel in the cooker. Remove the whistle from the pressure cooker cover. Just cover the cooker with it's lid.. Do Not fit the cover as usual. Steam the fish for 2-3 minutes only!

Remove steamed Salmon steaks from the cooker and cover with Aluminum Foil. Heat a tava or the grill. Put the Al foil covered Salmon steak on the tava and heat it for 7-8 minutes on both sides..

Remove Salmon steak from the tava/grille.. enjoy with daal rice.. or for a fusion menu serve with salad and garlic bread!

Mulike Paranthe

2009-10-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

Story: I have 12 first cousin sisters in my extended family.. all my sisters are total enthu in life.. Radha is one of them.. She moved to several places north to Maharashtra after she got married. The foodie bug runs in the family - needless to say - Radha learned different delicacies from all the places that she moved to.. Recently Radha moved back to Pune, my home town. Now she makes all these delicacies for everyone in the family. My mom got this recipe from Radha and gave it to me..
Source: Raadha/Aditi Lele - my first cousin..
Time: 1-2 hours
Ingredients:

2 large Muli or white radish
4-5 green chillies - finely chopped
Handful coriander leaves - finely chopped
less than half inch piece of ginger - finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - finely chopped
A pinch of garam masala
1/2 tsp Aamchoor powder
1/2 tsp Chat masala
1 tbsp kasoori methi

Recipe:
Grate the muli and squeeze all the water out of muli. Add all the ingredients along with salt and mix well. Keep covered for 15-20 minutes. The dry mixture looks like this:

Make aata as usual - add oil, water and salt. Take an aata-ball of the size of a large lemon, stuff with a couple of tsp of the dry masala. Heat paranthas with ghee or oil as usual. Serve with your choice of chutney, kachumber and/or lassi.

Chicken 65

2009-10-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Story: I have yet to meet a desi who doesn't love Indian Chinese food.. oh.. man do you remember the roadside thela's that serve Hakka Noodles, Manchurian, Chicken lollipop, Sweet corn soup, Veg. spring rolls and American Chopsue.. [drool all over the keyboard]

One of many problems of living around Boston is the fact that you cannot get authentic desi specialities in a restaurant. Honestly - I have not found a single restaurant in the Boston area that serves authentic desi chinese. It is a BIG problem for foodies like us.. we visit NYC often to enjoy good desi chinese food. One more reason to love Manhattan and NYC!

There are several options for desi chinese in NYC, but we almost always end up going to IndoMunch on Lexington avenue. Samir Chouthai - one of our friends introduced this place to us . anyways - so we were on a food trip to NYC and had dinner in IndoMunch. The owner (I think) was at the check out counter.. I told him that I simply LOVE their food and we come all the way from Boston to eat it. and me being the usual pushy me - I asked him if he can share the Chicken 65 recipe .... He was soo kind to give me the recipe!!!! I tried it and it actually comes out quite close to the original.. I agree with Shank - that I need some more practice and need to adjust some proportions to get it just right ... but hey - even in its current form - it ain't bad at all.. we both think it is blogworthy.. :-)

Source: IndoMunch - Indian Chinese restaurant in NYC

Time: 3 hours + a little preparation the day before

Ingredients:

2-3 dry red chillies
Corn flour - 2 tbsp
All purpose flour (maida) 1tsp
2 Egg Yolk
Loads of curry leaves (10-15)
half inch ginger - julienne
1tbsp garlic paste
1 small onion julienne
1 red pepper julienne
1 green pepper julienne
1 tsp soya sauce
1 or 2 green chillies vertically slit in two halves - depending on the spice level
1 tsp dahi / yogurt
1 scallion bunch - finely chopped
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces

Recipe:
Chilli Paste:
Day before you make this dish: soak red chillies in 1/2 cup water. The next morning grind the red chillies into a paste. Cook this paste for 2-3 minutes in oil and keep aside.

Deep fry chicken pieces:
Start heating oil for deep frying the chicken pieces. In a bowl, mix corn flour, all purpose flour and egg yolks very well to form a coating for chicken. When the oil is hot enough for deep frying, lightly coat chicken pieces with this mixture and deep fry till golden brown. Pat dry with paper towels and keep aside.

Mix 1 tbsp corn flour with 1/2 cup water and keep this mixture ready for the gravy.

Put it all together:
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan, once the oil is hot - add curry leaves and slit green chillies. Once the curry leaves stop crackling, add ginger pieces and garlic paste. Mix well and add onions and pepper, stir fry for a minute or so. Add 1 tbsp chilli paste and 1 tsp of dahi. Mix well.
Add the chicken pieces and stir fry for about 1 minute. Add the corn flour mixture with water and mix well. Cover the pan for about a minute. Add salt to taste.

Finally, sprinkle just a little bit of soya sauce (1tsp) and mix well. That's it - it is ready to go! Goes well with fried rice or hakka noodles..

Avocado-Red Pepper Salsa

2009-10-12T07:46:00.000-07:00

Story: You know how some dishes taste good only because someone specific made the dish - My cousin Shubha has a quite a few specialties - Idli saambar, Uttappa, Fajita Omlet, Masale Bhaat, Batata wada.... the list goes on! Me and Shank are both fans since grad school times.. that reminds me - it has been ages since we had Idli saambar at Shubhi's - I have to visit her sometime soon!

yeah - so about this salsa - Shubha made it for a BBQ party this summer - and we hogged on it big time! An interesting titbit: There is no tomatoe in this salsa!

Oh.. and before I forget - I have to mention my BIL - Uday - I have promised him! I called for the recipe when Shubha wasn't around - So Uday read the recipe out of the book while looking after the kids... Thanks a ton Uday!

(with all this footage - Uday - you must subscribe to my blog as you promised!)

Source: Shubha Badve-Naik (A recipe book for salsas that Shubha has - will get the details soon..)
Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:

2 riped avocados
1 large or 2 small red onions
1 red bell pepper
4 green chillies
2 tbsp cilantro
2 tbsp olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt, pepper

Recipe:

Finely cut all the veggies, mix in a bowl with lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Enjoy with tortilla chips!

Konkani Curry

2009-10-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

Story: I am a Maharashtrian.. so I often end up surfing on a number of Marathi websites.. One of the websites I used to be active on is manogat.com. A while ago I found really great recipes on Manogat especially for typical Maharashtrian/Marathi items.

This one is by far the best catch!

Me, my hubby and my FIL simply LOVE eating fish.. baked, grilled, deep fried, soaked in a really spicy Konkani curry, raw or pickled in a sushi.. In my family - if it's fish it's good!

This particular recipe is soo good for a desi audience that I am ready to give money back gurantee on it! ;-)

For my veggie friends - I would highly recommend half fried potatoe or cauliflower pieces intead of the fish. That's how I serve this gravy to my MIL and my veggie friends..

Source: Posted by Prabhakar Pethkar on manogat.com in 2005 This post is a slighlty modified translation of the recipe.
Time: 3 hrs
Ingredients:

1.5 katori shredded fresh coconut (from the frozen pack)
6-8 garlic cloves
1 inch ginger
10-12 curry leaves
10-12 dry red chillies (Kashmiri would be best)
1 medium size onion, finely cut
1 medium size tomatoe, finely cut
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp kasuri methi
1 tbsp tamarind pulp
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
Handful coriander leaves - finely chopped
10-12 Sichuan peppercorns or Tirfale : It has a strong flavor so I use only 4-5. The flavor is great - but don't sweat it if you don't have it.
4 tbsp Oil
Fish - I don't know how to clean a Baangda/Mackerel. So I use pre-cleaned Tilapia or Sole or any soft fish - a couple of fillets

Recipe:

Rub salt, 1 tbsp lemon juice and turmeric powder on the fish fillet and keep it aside.

Grind the following ingredients into a paste. Add as little water as possible:
Dry red chillies, coconut, ginger, garlic, onion, tomatoe, kasoori methi, tamarind pulp, Garam masala powder, coriander leaves.

The paste should be very smooth in texture

Heat Oil in a large Kadhaaii. Add curry leaves and sichuan peppercorns to the oil. the curry leaves splutter and you can smell the aroma all over the kitchen.. At this point - add the masala paste to the oil.

Here's the time-consuming part - you have to stir this paste on slow-medium heat for a long-long time - something like 30-40 minutes. But - 'Intazaar ka Fal Badaa Tasty Hota Hai!'.
Resist the temptation of increasing the heat.. Trust me - it is all worth it!

As you start heating/stirfrying the paste - it soaks the oil at first..

After a few minutes (10-15) it will start to shine a little..
Towards the end (after 30 ish minutes of shallow frying) the paste is cooked and oil starts separating from it.

Add water to make a semi-thick gravy. Turn up the heat, cover the kadhaii and bring to a boil.

Cut the fish fillets into 1.5 inch squares.

When the curry is boiling, turn the heat medium. Add fish or potatoe or cauliflower..
Cover for about 3-4 minutes to cook the fish.

The fish curry is ready!!

Goes well with white rice and fish fry:

Simply Delicious Daal

2009-10-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

Story: I had this daal at a pot luck - sometime last winter. Seemantini got it along with other items.. I liked the daal so much - I can't even remember what else was at the pot luck. The best part is the simplicity of the recipe.. Don't you love a recipe that you can easily make during a weekday, even after a long tiring workday? So here it is - recipe for the famous - Seemantini Daal :-)
Source: Seemantini Deshpande/Nikumbh
Time: 30 minutes at the most
Ingredients:

1/2 katori moong daal
1/2 katori toor daal
1 tbsp ghee
hing, turmeric powder
3-4 curry leaves
Panch puran for tadka - little more than 1 pinch of each - Fenugreek, Mustard , Kalonji, Fennel, Cumin seeds (Fennel seeds are a must!)
1 big tomato cut into 1 inch squares
1 green chilli - cut into halves
1.5 dry red chilli
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste

Recipe:
When you cook the daal in the pressure cooker, add the tomato pieces, green chilli pieces, hing, turmeric powder and salt. Cook the daal as usual.

Heat ghee in a pan and make tadka with red chillies, curry leaves and panch puran. Add cooked daal to the tadka. mix well. Add water as needed. Bring to boil.

Add lemon juice for extra khatta taste, salt as needed and mix well.

That's it - garnish with fresh coriander leaves and enjoy with white rice and achaar.

Veggie Patties or Puffs

2009-09-18T07:19:00.000-07:00

Story:
This recipe has a really special place in my heart! I takes me back home.. to fond memories of a common scene on Sunday mornings - Neeraj, my brother has got Patties from the legendary Santosh Bakery.. me, Manasi and Neeraj are eating Patties in front of the TV - along with coffee (mostly milk) that my mom made (chai was only for grown ups!). We are watching He Man or Ramayan or Mahabharat or Chanakya (depending on the timeline) and on very rare occasions we would get up early enough to watch Rangoli! I used to hate eating the bhaaji inside the Patties.. so I would give that to Neeraj and just eat the puffs. and the whole family would be enjoying the lazy Sunday morning together...

But all this joy came for a price - you had to wake up early to get the Patties - otherwise Santosh would run out of them really quickly. Also there was this tiny 6 by 2 feet area in front of the counter full with customers.. as kids - we had an advantage we could sneak in between and get in front of the line pretty quickly. It was not easy to acquire this skill - I took formal training from Neeraj before I could buy Patties on my own.. :-).

The Patties are special because they are made fresh completely from scratch in a brick oven right in front of your eyes.. Santosh is still there.. and I will find a way to get pictures of this place to share with everyone..Just an outstanding bakery!

I was thrilled to get to a recipe for the veggie puffs that taste even remotely similar to taste of Santosh Bakery!

Source: Masala - Wah Wah Productions & Technique - First learned it from Richa and Vinay Mooley
Time: 1 hrs
Ingredients:

1 Large Potatoe - Boiled, peeled and cut into 1 inch squares
1.5 cup of frozen mix veggies: with pieces of beans, carrot, corn and peas. (defrosted)
1 inch of fresh ginger - grated
2 green chillies - cut into small pieces
4-6 curry leaves
a pinch of red chilly powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
1tbsp Oil, hing, turmeric powder and mustard seeds for Tadka
1 pack of Pillsbury frozen puff pastry sheets

Recipe:

Pre heat the oven at 400 F.
Take the Pillsbury pastry sheets out of the fridge for defrosting.

Mix the spices with the Potatoe pieces (ginger, chillies, salt, red chilly powder, garam masala).
Mix well, taste a piece and keep covered for about 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in a pan and add hing, turmeric powder and mustard seeds for tadka.
Add Potatoes and Mix veggies to the Tadka and saute for a couple of minutes. Cover the pan and keep the heat at slow-medium flame for 3-4 minutes.

Turn the heat off - the filling is ready.

There are two large sheets in a Pillsbury box. Each sheet makes 6 veggie puffs. Cut the pastry sheet into 6 pieces. Fill one piece at a time and fold the press lightly to close the puff.
Put little more than a spoonful of the masala in each puff.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or till the color is golden brown.
Enjoy with Chai or Coffee..

Indore - Live for food

2009-09-16T10:51:00.001-07:00

This post reminds me of an advertisement for "Dhaara" oil. It showed a Sardaarji opening his 3-tier dabba in office and eating one delicacy after another.. and the voice over was something like - 'Kuch log jeene ke liye khaate hai - Kuchh log khaane ke liye jeete hai!'. Indori's fall in the later category for sure!!

If you are even remotely interested in food - one trip to Saraafa will turn you into a foodie, if you are a foodie - this is one place you must visit before you die :-).

I have been meaning to write a detailed post about all the amazing food I ate in Indore - specifically in Sarafa and Chhappan Dukan areas.. - so I am going to add pictures and comments for now - detailed descriptions on the way...

Indori Namkeen - Countless varieties of shev, chanas, batalas etc - pudina shev, sichuan shev, potatoe shev, tomatoe shev - just to name a few..

Indori Mithayee - from Apna Sweets:

Indore style 'Aagraha' or Manuhaar in hindi -

Aagraha in marathi refers to the act of forcing people to eat more after you have figured that they are quite full - Indorees are especially good at it - Jayant kaka is a champion - He wanted to make us eat daal baati after we had sampled every sweet in Apna Sweets and had a ras malai and tasted a few namkeen items at 10.00 am.. :P - you get the picture

Mr. Apna Sweets: - the owner

I was completely impressed by the creative shapes of mithayis and the colorful display etc.. it was so artistic that it reminded me of several patisseries we saw in a crowded no-name alley in Paris. So I said to Shank - my hubby - wow this is so beautiful - it reminds me of the shop we saw in Paris. Shashank immedietly turns to Mr. Apna Sweets from the picture and says " Ye keh rahi hai ki aap ki dukan to bilkul Paris ki dukan jaisi hai.." Mr. Apna Sweets was of course delighted to hear that. After offerring free Paan and few other things to Shank, he called one of the Ramu's working in his shop and in a typical Indori accent says " Bhiya sun rahe ho - Apni dukaan ki tulna 'Peris' ki dukaan se ho rahi hai..!!" I am sure Indore being the land of exaggeration - by now he must have used this line with added mirch masala on numerous occasions.. :-D

Saraafaa - sirf naam hi kaafi hai:

'Saraf' in marathi means a jewller, the name Saraafaa must have come from the Maratha rulers - Holkar and Shindes.. Anyway it is an area with goldsmith and jewllery shops open during the day time and after a busy day, during the night, this area turns into a one stop shop for all sorts of delicacies..

Fariyali Sabudana Khichadi, Bhutte ka kees, Hot chips, Burf ka gola, Dahi Bada, Kachori, Samosa, Chaat, Garadu, Kulfi, Mawa Jalebi, Shikanjee, MaalPua, Mawa Baati.. just a few names.. If you have visited Sarafa even once - to naam hi kaafi hai..

We recently visited Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy that has a similar feel in terms of the jewllery shops - but the Italians don't have the food stalls there - just the gold smiths :-)

Let's begin with the pictures:

Mawaa Baati: A large gulaab jamun stuffed with dry fruits, saffron and ilayachi at the center

The joy of eating Maawaa Bati - just look at Shashank's expression:

Garadu: Calling Garadu similar to French fries would be a total injustice - It is basically deep fried pieces of a root called Garadu.. tastes like Aaloo or more like Arvi. So far it's similar to french fries - but the killer masala along with a ton of lemon juice and fresh dhaniya makes all the difference.. I bought some masala from the dude in this picture.. added it to grilled potatoes, even fried fish - yummy chatpataa starter.

Mr. Garaduwala - see Bhutte ka kees in the background:

Garadu in the making:

Joshiji ke famous Dahi Bade:

Amitaabh said - Muchhe ho to Natthulaal jaisi ho ya to naa ho..
I would say - Dahi badaa ho to Joshi ji jaisa ho ya to naa ho!

Apart from having totally 'swadisht' daahi and Badaa (vadaa) that can soak all the goodness from the dahi.. Joshi ji has turned the act of serving dahi badaa into an art! He will take a pinch of different masaalas (cumin powder, black pepper powder, salt, chilli powder) in the space between two consecutive fingre-tips and then swirl his hand around the katori of dahi badaa 4 times - opening one pinch at a time. By the end of the act you see 4 concentric circles of masalas on the dahi badaa! - but wait - there's more - Joshi ji also throws the katori in air in between the rounds of masalaas.. just a fabulous performance to watch!

Joshi ji working the magic - one more time:

Mawa or Khoya Jalebi: One Jalebi is about 1/2 pound in weight.. and don't even try to count the calories.. regular jalebi has maida in it - just won't work for Indorees - this one is made of mostly Maawa/Khuva/Khoya. See the Malpua in the other kadhai.

Johny HotDog and Vijay chat house in Chhappan -
I wanted to taste the hot dog eversince I heard the name.. it is so catchy.. It is this really small thela in chhappan that serves 3 tasty delights - mutton hot dog, veggie hot dog and Banjo (Paav with Egg stuffing). We had all three that day.. i'd say all three items are totally worth the hype!
here are some pics with Johny himself!

Vijay chat House for Patties
This place is famous for the Khopra Patties. It is basically deep fried potato patties with a coconut stuffing. Enjoy with all the chutneys etc. Their Batalaa Patties with mutter or peas is also quite tasty..

Oh and did I mention that we ate all this in just one day?? :-)

Beetroot for red color

2009-09-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

This ones' from one of the best cooks I know - Smita Amdekar - my friend and ex-neighbor. My hubby's mausi - Aruna Mavashi confirmed it as well :-)

If you want natural red color for a Punjabi gravy or Pav Bhaji, add beet root juice to get the restaurant like color.

With the combination of beet root juice and tomatoe puree, Pav Bhaji looks exactly like the authentic roadside version from India - reddish orange.. add a spoonful of Amul butter to finish it off.

Chutney tadka

2009-09-16T10:39:00.001-07:00

Heat 2tbsp oil in a small cast iron vessel. Add lots of hing, red chillies, few curry leaves and 1tsp mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to splutter turn off the heat and put the tadka on any chutney..

Now grind the chutney along with the tadka. This makes the mustard seeds, curry leaves and oil to mix really well with the chutney again - adding a nice "kick" (as my hubby likes to call it) at the end of each bite.

This one's supposed to be a common practice in Telugu recipes - but I got the tip from Meera Ramaswamy - a friend from work..