Pav Bhaji !

Try out this delicious and mouth-watering chaat/snack.Dont count the extra pav/calories!














Ingredients:

To be boiled:

• cauliflower - 1 cup
• carrots - 2
• french beans - 1/2 cup
• green peas - 1 cup
• Potato - 1 cup

Keep aside

• Butter - 4tsp
• asafoetida - a pinch
• ginger garli paste - 2 tsp
• onions - 2 finely chopped
• capsicum - 1 finely chopped
• Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped
• Green chillies - 4 finely chopped
• Red chilly pdr - 1 tsp
• corriander pdr - 1 tsp
• turmeric pdr - 1 tsp
• garam masala - 1 tsp
• cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• dry mango pdr - 1tsp
• salt - to taste
• Bombay pav bhaji masala - 3 tsp
• Pav bread - 8 pieces
• celantra leaves and onion/tomato /lime for garnishing.

Method of preparation:

• In apan add butter, asofoetida and ginger garlic paste and stir well
• Add the finely chopped onions and capsicum,wait for the onion to turn pink and translucent
• Add the finely chopped tomatoes,green chillies,pav bhaji masala,red chilli pdr,corriander pdr,turmeric pdr,garam masala and jeera,dry mango pdr and salt to taste.
• mix well and simmer for around ten mins.
• Now add all the boiled vegetables and cook for another 9 mins.
• mix all the ingrediants with a masher.
• Remove from heat and add juice of 2 lemons.
• Take another pan and add a dollop(big) of butterin it.
• Slice the bread rolls/pav at the centre and place them facing inwards.
• Turn them around in a minuteand let the outside turn golden brown.
• Garnish the bhaji with celantra leaves,onionand tomato slices
• Serve hot!

Wheat Rawa Upma

Usually we all must have tried sooji rawa upma but i jus tried to make upma with wheat rawa(kodumai ravai).Making this dish is much simpler than sooji as it requires very less or no ghee.Also there is no need to fry the rawa before making the dish.

Ingredients:

• Wheat rawa- 1 cup
• onion - 1 sliced
• Tomato - 1 sliced
• green chillies - 2
• curry leaves - few
• musturd seeds - 1 tsp
• oil - 2 to 3 tsp
• water - 3 cups
• salt to taste.

Method of preparation:

• Heat a Kadai and add oil and when hot add musturd seeds, curry leaves and green chillies and saute well.
• Slowly add the onions and fry them, when they change colour add the tomatoes and salt and cook on slow flame
• After a few minutes add 3 cups of water in the kadai and allow it to boil( a spoon of ghee can be added at this stage if required)
• slowly add 1 cup of wheat rawa and stir the mixture simultaneously.
• allow the rawa to cook in low flame and serve hot!

Serving suggestions:

Can be served with pickle and curd.

My Tea pot /Kettle

Earlier before marriage , i hardly drink tea. Coffee and milk are the only beverage that i have. My Grandma says only tamasic people prefer tea and it is not good for brain and makes you dull! She forces me to drink milk only!

After marriage i found in my in-laws place that it was always an tea time evening!

We all make it a point to have tea together atleast on the weekends.

• Ginger chai
• masala chai
• cardamom chai ( my fav)

are commonly made. I prefer more of milk in my tea, some people prefer more of water.

Though initially i was apprehensive about tea i started a liking for it. But my all time fav is always coffee, coffee and only strong filter capi !

Peas Potato Patiz

Ingredients:

• Boiled Potatoes - 3 to 4
• Boiled Peas - 1 cup
• salt - to taste
• chilli powder -1 tsp
• corriander powder - 1 tsp
• turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
• celantra leaves -few
• oil - for shallow fry
• bread crumbs - 1 cup (spread in a plate )
• maida - abt 2 spoons dissolved in water

Method

• Add all the ingredients except oil, bread crumbs and maida in a mixing bowl, Mash and mix them thoroughly in the form of a dough.
• Role them into patiz of desired shapes .
• Heat oil in a pan as shown below for shallow fry.
• dip the patiz in the maida mixed with water and place the on the bread crumbs so that it sticks to the patiz fully.
• Slowly place them on the hot oil and fry on all the sides.
• serve hot with tomato sauce.

Maharashtrian Poha

Delicacies-in-law !!


I learnt this dish from my ma-in-law and it has become almost a staple breakfast almost twice or thrice a week!

Ingredients:

• Poha/aval/beaten rice -2 to 3 cups.
• onions - 2 finely chopped
• peanuts - fried ,a handful
• turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• salt - to taste
• sugar - 1/2 tsp
• curry leaves - a bunch
• celantra leaves - few to garnish
• musturd seeds - 1 tsp
• oil - 2 to 3 tsp
• green chillies - 2 to 3 finely chopped

Method of preparation:

• Clean the poha several times and soak them in about 1 cup of waterand keep aside.
• Heat a kadai and add oil, when hot add musturd seeds,fried peanuts, curry leaves,green chillies and saute well
• Add the chopped onions and fry them along with salt,sugar and turmeric powder.
• when the onions become traslucent and golden brown in colour, add the poha and mix well.
• Turn of the heat, squeeze half a lemon ( optional) and garnish with corriander leaves.

When served can also be garnished with bhujia or mixture

Alu ki sabzi / potato curry / urulai kuruma

My neighbour Mrs.Mamta Jain gave me one of these variation of alu sabzi which i tried and like to share with you all.

The method of preparing this receipe is quiet uncommon in south indian kitchen !

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 4 peeled and cut into cubes
• yoghurt - 1 cup
• chilli powder - 1 tsp
• coriander powder -1 tsp
• salt - to taste
• turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• cumin powder - 1 tsp
• gram flour ( besan ) - 1 large tsp
• oil - 2 to 3 tsp
• musturd seeds - 1 tsp
• fennel seeds - 1 tsp
• nigella seeds - 1 tsp
• cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• bay leaf - 1
• cinnamon stick - 2

Method of prepation:

• Take youghurt in a mixing bowl and add chilli powder,turmeric powder,corriander powder,salt,cumin powder and mix well so that there are no lumps formed and keep aside.
• Heat a kadai and add oil, when hot add the musturd seeds,cumin seeds,fennel seeds,nigella seeds,bay leaf and cinnamon stick and saute well till they splutter.
• Now lower the heat and add the yoghurt mixture kept aside and stir till it comes to boil
• Add the potatoes peeled and cut into cubes into the boiling yogurt mixture and stir weel
• pour a cup of water and close the kadai with a lid and cook for 8 to 10 mins which allows the potatoes to absorb the spicy yogurt mixture.
• Garnish with celantra leaves and serve.

serving suggestion:

Can be served with chappatis, rotis,naans.

Best with puris ( my preference)

Moong dal dosa / pasi parrupu dosai

Usually our traditional southindian dosas are made with lots of preparation, like soaking for hours in water and allowing them to ferment ( for yeast formation ) for another one day. so by the time you eat your dosa you have to wait for 2 days.

Moong dal/pasi parrupu is a great substitute for this traditional dosa made with rice and urud dal. These dosas are faster and easier to prepare.

Ingredients for 2 people / around 6 large dosas :

moong dal - 1 cup washed ( 250 gms )

cummin seeds - 1 tbsp

salt - to taste

oil - for making the dosas ( around 6 tbsps)

Method:

Wash the dal in water several times until the water becomes clear

Soak the dal in water for about 3 to 4 hours

Drain and blend them along with the required amount of salt.( the batter blends smoother with little water)

Add cumin seeds in the batter ( for digestion ).add water if needed to form into a dosa consistency.

Heat non-stick/dosa pan , spread oil and make dosas with the batter.

serving suggestions:

tastes best with aloo(potato) peas curry ( my preference)

also can be served with any chutney or gunpowder(milagai podi)