Buttermilk Curry made with Green Sorrel and Chickpea Flour

Our own Indian Kadhi made of buttermilk, besan and khatta palak. I normally don't see this green vegetable often with vendors, this time I got my hands on a few bunches of the Green Sorrel which is Ambat Chuka in Marathi, Khatta Palak in Hindi. Mildly sour, the fresh vegetable lends an amazing taste to the simple Kadhi with a tempering of ghee and jeera. Many times in my childhood I would get to hear in my house, that the menu was going to have Ambat chukyach Kadhi with rice.

Ingredients

1 bunch green sorrel, cleaned and chopped.

2 glasses of buttermilk with 3 tablespoons of besan or chickpea flour mixed well to see that there are no lumps.

Salt to taste

Small spoon of turmeric powder, asefoetida, cumin seeds and 2 tspoons ghee for tempering

Sugar or grated jaggery to taste

1 green chilli and 4 cloves of garlic roughly crushed

Plain water to be added as per the required consistancy

Method

In a deep bottomed vessel take two teaspoons of ghee, heat it a bit add cumin seeds let them splutter, add the garlic chilli mixture stir for a bit, add a pinch of asefoetida and little turmeric powder, add the chopped green sorrel, stir till a little cooked, add the buttermilk chickpea flour mix, keep stirring and adding ater if you think it is too thick. bring it to the required consistancy and then add salt and sugar or jaggery. Bring it to a quick boil and serve hot with steamed rice.

Thecha, something that occupies a corner in my fridge and heart always.

Coming up early morning with a spicy post, the reason being that I got hold of some fresh tamarind flowers which I could use in my recipe .Always mesmerised and happy with the colours and tastes that nature has to offer to us smile emoticon

Easy peasy recipe.
in a pan wash and put the 100  gms of chillies, handful of tamarind flowers and the tender leaves, salt as per taste, a small spoon of asefoetida, 1/4 cup water, 2 tablespoons of refined sunflower oil, 10 fenugreek seeds. mix all well and keep it on the gas, cook coveredand check in between while stirring that the water has not dried up, if so add little bit stir and cover back, cook till the chillies are tender and have change colour, they should retain moisture even after they are cooked. Now blend them to a course paste, your Thecha is ready to be eaten with chapati, bread, curd rice, can be added in the bhel mixture too.

This is a nice tasty drink, like a soup which can be sipped piping hot on winter mornings or chilly evenings too.

  Tomato Saar With Coconut Milk And a hint of Green Chilli

 Ingredients 

1) Ingredients for grinding to a paste
3 big tomatoes
2 green chillies
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut

2) Ingredients to be added later
1/2 tspoon pepper powder
1 tspoon sugar
Salt to taste

3) For the tempering you need 1 tspoon ghee, 1 tspoon cumin seeds, 1/4 tspoon asafoetida

Method
Grind the step one ingredients to a fine paste, strain well, adding water 2- 3 times, till all the pulp and the coconut milk strains out well. This will give you a thick consistancy, add water making it to a little thicker than soup consistancy. Add step 2 ingredients, bring to a boil and then make a tempering of the step 3 ingredients and pour over the saar. Serve decorated with coriander leaves and a dash of lime which is optional.
This is usually served with a meal and can be sipped through out the meal.

Cabbage Fritters
This would make a nice teatime snack for a chilly winter evening. Learnt it from a regional cookery show and thought of sharing the recipe. Hope you enjoy.
Ingredients
2 cups of chickpea flour
1/2 cup rice flour
2 cups of cabbage chopped into fine juliens
1/2 cup onions chopped to fine juliens
a handful of curry leaves chopped fine
6 green chillies chopped fine
1/2 cup of mint leaves chopped fine
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves chopped fine
Salt to taste
1/2 tspoon edible soda or 2 tablespoons of heated oil
Method
Mix all the above ingredients adding very little water and mixing it to a fritter consistancy. heat oil in a kadhai, make small portions and fry them on medium flame taking care to see the fritters do not burn from out and at the same time get thoroghly cooked inside also.

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Amti

Amti is a type of sweet and sour curry made of split pigeon pea. A regular dish in most Maharashtrian and North Karnataka homes. Loved by one and all, you can safely call this a comfort dish. Eaten with steaming hot rice and a dash of clarified butter is heavenly!!
I have had the best taste coming from what my grandmom made, next was my mom and then I never got the same taste. this comes in memory of both amazing cooks.
Want to show you the amazing fresh tamarind flowers and leaves in the picture.

ingredients
1) 1 cup split pigeon pea pressure cooked with a pinch of asefoetida, a small spoon of turmeric powder, a small tomato slit.

2) spoons of tamarind pulp, I was fortunate enough to to find fresh tamarind flowers and leaves which I could add while making the pulp
1 tspoon full of saar masala
2 tspoons full of grated jaggery
Salt to taste
Chilli powder to taste.
Oil, muastard seeds, turmeric powder and asefoetida for the tempering.

Method
First once the lentil is pressure cooked, cool it and peel the tomato in it, add all the ingredients from No 2, keep ready.

take a deep bottomed vessel, add oil, mustard seeds, once they splutter add the asefoetida and turmeric powder, add the pressure cooked lentils in which all ingredients from No 2 have been added, make a curry consistency, give it a nice boil, add fresh coriander chopped, serve with plain rice and a dash of clarified butter.

Aviyal is a dish that I learnt from a dear friend Nalini, at whose house I spent some wonderful days at Cochin.Thanks to her for teaching me so many Keralite delicacies.

Aviyal : Avery popular south indian vegetable dish
Ingredients
50 gms Lima beans/pavta (fresh unpeeled)
25 gms french beans cleaned and chopped into medium sized pieces
25 gms fresh pigeon pea (green toor)
Some curry leaves
1 cup fresh scraped coconut
4 green chillies
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
A pinch of turmeric
1/2 cup beaten yogurt
Coconut oil as per requirement
Finely chopped coriander for garnishing
Boil the pigeon peas, lime beans and the french beans with some curry leaves and coconut oil, meanwhile grind the coconut, chillies, cumin seeds to a fine paste.
Once the vegetables are half boiled put in the paste, mix well and let it cook till vegetables are fully cooked. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, salt to taste, the beaten yogurt, mix well. Do not cook for long as the yogurt may split. Garnish with fresh coriander and put the flame off. Drizzle a little coconut oil.
Serve with puri or steamed rice. Enjoy

This recipe I learnt from one of my house helps. In some parts of Mumbai there are men who work as house hold helps and are called Ramas. The guy who worked for me also worked in a Chinese restaurant as a cook and he taught me this dish. Thanks to him and the dish gets dedicated to Shantaram, that was his name.

Ingredients

1) 1 and a 1/2 cup long grain rice pressure cooked and cooled, the grains should be separate and not sticky.

 2) Grind to a paste and keep ready 
 2 sprigs of celery, use only the leaves
1 spoon ginger paste
1 spoon garlic paste
6 red chillies soaked in water for two hours(drain out the water before grinding)
1 roughly chopped tomato
1 roughly chopped onion

3) Ajinomoto, optional
Fresh green coriander for garnish 
Salt to taste
3 eggs

In a kadhai take oil add the ground paste, cook till it leaves oil, break eggs directly into the cooked paste, add salt and stir and mix well till it becomes a scramble, now add the rice and add salt if required and mix well, let the aromas get well infused into the rice. Then remove from the fire top it with fresh coriander, serve with any Chinese gravy or Manchurian. 

Porridge made of Garden Cress Seeds with Caramelised Apple and Banana.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Garden cress Seeds soaked in little more than 1 cup of water, water an hour before preparation. They absorb water and swell up, so check in between to see if there is enough water or else add little to just submerge them fully.

1/2 a litre of milk
1 banana peeled, chopped into roundels
1/2 an apple peeled, chopped into medium sized thin pieces
 A pinch of cinammon powder
A small spoon of nutmeg powder
few strands of saffron, optional.

Sugar can be added as per taste

Method 
Bring milk to a boil in a deep bottomed vessel, add the soaked seeds, sugar and mix till sugar melts. Remove from fire and keep aside.

In a pan take some clarified butter add the pieces of banana and apple, sautee them till a little golden, sprinkle little sugar, nutmeg and cinammon powder, let them caramelise llittle, take them off the pan and add to the porridge, add strands of saffron if you like. Chill it and enjoy  it.

Baby Brinjal And Fresh Green Pigeon Pea Curry

Ingredient
200 gms of fresh pigeon peas pressure cooked and kept ready

6 baby brinjals ( small brinjals) slit from both sides in opposite directions, here i like to mention that many people make it without cutting off the stock fully, that means chop off the hard portion of the stock and then slit it, put these in a vessel of water for about half an hour, so they open up and also do not oxidize and turn black.

Grind to a paste, 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut, 6 cloves of garlic, 1 inch of chopped ginger, 2 tspoons of roasted sesame seeds, 2 roughly chopped onions, 1 roughly chopped tomato, 1 tea spoon of red chilli powder, 1 tea spoon full of malvani masala. Keep this ready.

Small bunch of coriander for garnishing.

Method

In a pan put little oil, add mustard seeds let them splutter, add turmeric powder and asafoetida and then add the slit brinjals, sprinkle little water, add salt 1/ 2 tspoon malvani masala, cover and let them cook till almost done. remove in a vessel. Now put some oil in the kadhai again and add the ground paste, let it cook till it leaves oil, add the brinjals, let it cook for sometime, add salt as per taste, water as per your liking, garnish with fresh coriander, serve with rice or paratha.

Mushroom manchurian
Fresh mushrooms washed well chopped into medium sized pieces, sauteed in oil with little salt and kept aside.
Ingredients
6/7 cloves of garlic
A bunch of fresh coriander
An inch of chopped ginger
4 green chillies
Salt as per taste
2 spoons dark soya sauce
Ajinomoto is optional
1 teaspoon of honey
For the masala take 6/7 cloves of garlic, a bunch of fresh coriander, an inch of chopped ginger, 4 green chillies and put them in a hand blender to make a coarse mix. 
In a kadhai take some oil, put the masala, saute it well, add the cooked mushrooms, ajinomoto (optional), salt as required,dark soya sauce,((please keep in mind that soya sauce has salt in it ), once all this gets well mixed, just sprinkle a little cornflour on it, mix well, at the end drizzle a few drops of honey to balance the pungent taste. Enjoy with phulkas, spread it on bread or have it with fried rice.

Creamy fruity nutty cake
1 cup cake plum cake preferably, if available, or any cake will do
4/5 pieces of watermelon
4/5 pieces of apple
4/5 pieces of orange
4/5 hazelnuts chopped
A generous serving of fresh cream
In an ice cream cup place the cake, pour fresh cream, arrange pieces of fruits in a layer, again a nice generous pour of fresh cream, top it with hazelnut chops. Enjoy the sinful cup:):)

The Spicy Toasted Egg Sandwiches or Jaffles as they are called in Masterchef.

It is a Savoury Toasted Sandwich which can be had at breakfast or as an evening tea accompaniment. Good option for egg lovers, specially those who enjoy the heat of the fresh green chilli.

6 slices of whole wheat bread

6 eggs beaten with salt pepper and a 1/4 cup milk

6 green chillies finely chopped,use dark green chillies, specifying because all green chillies do not have the desired heat.

Small spoon full of finely chopped garlic
2 onions finely chopped
Small spoon of turmeric powder
Small spoon of asafoetida
Oil as desired

Method

Take oil in a pan add green chillies,onion, garlic and sautee till light brown, now add the beaten egg, add the rest of the ingredients, make a scramble, add the chopped coriander.

Take the bread slices, put the egg scramble inside, keep all all sandwiches ready, spray the toaster with olive oil or butter, butter tastes best. Now put the sandwich in the toaster and again either spray olive oil or butter on top too and toast till golden brown and crisp. Now enjoy them with tomato sauce or chilli sauce or a dip of your choice.

Exotic Vegetable Mix

This is a vegetable made with exotic vegetables and a little of our good old Cauliflower with Indian Spices.

Ingredients

2 cups of broccoli and 1 cup cauliflower florets washed thoroughly and drained,, 1 green, 1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper washed and chopped into squares.

1 tspoon of coriander powder, !4 tspoon of black pepper powder, 1 tspoon cumin powder, 1 tspoon chilli powder, 1/2 tspoon fenugreek powder, 1 tspoon curry leaf powder, 1 small spoon mustard powder,

For tempering you need oil, mustard seeds, turmeric powder, asafoetida.
For this preparation you need a little extra oil in the tempering, since the veggies will all cook in oil and not on steam.

Method

Take a pan add oil in it, add mustard seeds let them splutter, add turmeric powder, asafoetida, add the bell peppers, stir for a while add the broccoli, cauliflower florets, add all the powders and mix well, let it cook uncovered, keep stirring, once cooked garnish with chopped fresh coriander.Tastes amazing with roti, parathas and phulkas.

Bottle Gourd With Lentils

This is a bottle gourd curry made with three types of lentils and some aromatics. I would actually like to show you the beautiful coriander flower used for decorating the dish. When I watch the Masterchef show, I love the way George delicately decorates the dish with all edible flowers with his famous tiny tweezer. I wish i had access to so many teeeny weeny edible flowers, so I could use the too.

Ingredients

1)
2 cups of bottle gourd chopped into small squares

2)
1/4 cup split pigeon pea lentil
1/4 cup split green gram lentil
1/4 cup split bengal gram lentil
All the above washed and ready to pressure cook

3)
1 tspoon finely chopped garlic
1 onion finely chopped
3 green chillies slit
1 small tomato chopped into small pieces
A pinch of asafoetida, a small spoon of turmeric powder

4)
A dash of lime juice, a sprig of fresh coriander for the topping, 6 cloves of garlic chopped into pieces.

Mix ingredients 1, 2, 3 together, put in two cups of water, a pinch of asafoetida, a small spoon of turmeric powder and pressure cook to three whistles.

Now for the tempering take little oil in a deep bottomed pan, add mustard seeds, let them splutter, add asafoetida, turmeric, add the chopped garlic, let it turn golden brown, add the pressure cooked ingredients, salt to taste, mix well, give it a boil, garnish with chopped coriander. eat with rice or roti.

Tarkari Padartha

A Mangalorean vegetable delicacy which I ate at ITC Dakshin. This is eaten with Rotti, Appam or Rice. Tastes equally amazing with all three!! I Enjoyed the dish so much that I learnt to make it and now I am sharing the recipe with all of you.

100 gms of french beans
100 gms of carrots
100 gms of cauliflower
100 gms of baby potatoes peeled
50 gms of peas peeled
All the above should be cleaned and diced into medium sized pieces except the peas and baby potatoes. Boiled and kept ready.

1 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup paste made of soaked cashews

1 small spoon of chilli powder
1 tspoon full of coriander powder

For tempering you need oil, mustard seeds, asefotida, turmeric powder

Method
In a deep bottomed pan take oil, add mustard seeds, let them splutter, add asefotida, turmeric powder and then add the tomato paste and the cashew paste, let it cook well, cover and cook for a while, then add all the vegetables, the powders, salt to taste and cook covered to a nice boil.

Now for the final touch, a tempering with either clarified butter or coconut oil whatever is preferred, hea

t and add some curry leaves, 2/3 green chillies chopped, fry well and add on top of the ready vegetable.

                                               
                                      Vegetable made of elephant's foot yam and purple yam
                             Ingredients 
                           200 gms of purple yam
                           1/2 cup of freshly grated coconut
                           Salt to taste
                           4  green chillies chopped
                            Small bunch of coriander finely chopped
                           1 tspoon of split black gram lentil 
                             
                           Method
                          First wash the yams thoroughly, chop into medium sized cubes and par boil them in a deep bottomed vessel. Drain and keep aside. Take coconut oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, once they splutter add turmeric powder, asafoetida and then the lentil, let the lentil become light brown then add the green chilli, sautee for a bit and now add the boiled yam, salt the coconut and give it a nice mix and lastly add the chopped coriander. goes well roti, curry rice and also curd rice.
                                            

Stuffed Lady Finger

Ingredients step wise

Step 1
1/2 kilo of selected small lady fingers, cleaned and slit in the centre without splitting it into two

Step 2
3 onions chopped fine
1 tspoon of ginger garlic paste
1 spoon of cumin powder
1/2 spoon of amchur powder
Salt to taste
1 tspoon of chilli powder

Step 3
2 onions finely chopped
1 tspoon ginger garlic paste
1 tspoon garam masala
2 tspoons of tamarind paste
2 tspoons of coriander powder
Salt to taste
1 tspoon chilli powder

Method to get the the lady fingers ready

In a pan put some oil, chopped onion,ginger garlic paste, sautee till brown, add rest of the step 2 ingredients, mix and sautee for a bi, cool it down and fill this mixture into the ladies finger one by one. Take oil in a pan and sautee these carefully till almost done and keep ready.

Now in another pan take little oil, add chopped onion, ginger garlic paste, sautee till golden brown, add the rest of the step three ingredients, once the mixture is well cooked, add the stuffed ladies finger and sautee for sometime careful not to break the stuffed lady fingers. Garnish with chopped coriander, serve with paratha or phulka as per your choice.

Green Peas And Broccoli

Ingredients
1/2 kilo of broccoli, medium sized florets removed and washed in warm water
1/4 kilo of green peas
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut
3 green chillies chopped
Salt to taste
Oil, mustard seeds, turmeric and asafoetida for the tempering

Method
In a kadhai take oil, add mustard seeds, let them splutter then add asafoetida and turmeric powder, chopped green chillies, now add the green peas and broccoli, sprinkle water, add salt and the scraped coconut, cook covered. See that the veggies cook in the steam of the water added, check at intervals and keep adding water if dry.do not overcook, let the florets remain firm but cooked and moist. Tastes best with hot phulkas.

Appe Made Of Multi Lentils And Rice With Coconut ChutneyThis makes for a tasty South Indian breakfast or midtime snack.

Ingredients
1 cup rice
1/2 cup Split black lentil
1/2 cup split pigeon lentil
1/2 cup split bengal gram lentil, soaked for about two to three hours, ground to a fine paste, the batter should be of idli consistency. kept overnight will give you soft fluffy appe.

1/2 cup plain oats
1/4 cup semolina
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon of pepper powder
2 onions finely chopped
oconut chutney.Small bunch fresh coriander finely chopped
These should be added the next morning about half an hour before making them in the appe pan.

Now heat the appe pan, pour little little oil in each depression, pour the batter with a small spoon. Cover cook for a while, flip and cook with a sprinkle of oil to a golden brown colour. Savour with coconut chutney.

                                   
                                               Vangi Bhat

A south indian Rice delicacy which I always loved but did not know the method of making it. Thanks to one of the regional cookery shows which gave me a chance to learn and enjoy my home made Vangi Bhat. Infact I made it for Raksha Bandhan and my family loved it. Now I hope you people too enjoy making this dish.

Ingredients
2 cups basmati rice, wash and keep ready
3 brinjals, the ones which are thorny on the stock and light purple in colour chopped into long medium sized pieces
2 capsicums chopped into big sized squares
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut
Few curry leaves
2 dry red chillies roughly broken
3 tspoons of tamarind paste
1 tspoon of grated jaggery
Salt to taste

For the Masala
Take a little coconut oil, add 1 tspoon of split black gram lentil, 1 tspoon of split bengal gram lentil, 4 dry red chillies, 2 big pieces of cinammon, 4 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, 2 tspoons of coriander seeds, 1/2 cup dry grated coconut, 10 curry leaves, roast all ingredients to a light brown colour add a pinch of turmeric powder and dry grind to make a masala, keep ready.

Method

In a pressure cooker take 3 tspoons of coconut oil, temper with mustard seeds, turmeric powder, asafotida, add 2 dry red chilli roughly broken, few curry leaves, add the capsicum, brinjal, green peas and roast a bit, add rice, salt to taste, grated jaggery, tamarind paste, the freshly scraped coconut, mix well, add double the water of the quantity of rice, mix well cook to three whistles and your Vangi bhat is ready to savour. 

                                      

                                                     Coriander Dal

A preparation which my son and myself enjoy, specially with a lot of the fried garlic on top.

Coriander Dal topped with a tempering of Fried Garlic. Extremely tasty Dal dish eaten with chapati, bhakri. Very typical to interior Maharashtra. I personally enjoy it with steaming hot plain rice too.

Ingredients
1/2 cup toor dal pressure cooked with a pinch of turmeric powder and asefotida
1 bunch of fresh coriander finely chopped, stocks can be used for extra taste
A coarse paste of 5 garlic cloves and 3 green chillies
Salt to taste
10-12 cloves of garlic chopped the way it is shown in the picture
Juice of half a lime

Method
In a deep bottom pan put oil, add mustard seeds, let them splutter, add asefotida, turmeric powder, add the chopped coriander, sautee well, add salt stir for a while, add the boiled dal, some more salt as required, add the juice of the lime, give it a nice boil.
In a small pan make a tempering of little oil, mustard seeds, a bit of turmeric powder, asefotida, add the chopped garlic pieces fry them to a golden brown. Top the dal with the tempering and serve.

Another delicacy for the people who observe fasts in Shravan. A cool dessert for the midtime hunger attacks. 

Sago Pearl Porridge With Tender Coconut
I have given it a coastal twist

Ingredients
1/2 cup sago pearls
1 tspoon clarified butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup thick coconut milk
Few pieces of tender coconut ( the very soft malai from the coconut)
Fruits to your taste, I have used brown grapes, orange and apple.

Method
In a deep bottom pan roast the sago pearls in clarified butter till they swell up and look like fried pearls, add milk, few strands of saffron, bring to a boil, keep stirring till the sago peals soften completely, add sugar, by this time the milk thickens and also the pearls with starch will make the porridge into a nice consistency. Add coconut milk once you take it off the gas. Cool it completely, add the pieces of tender coconut and fruits of your choice. Decorate with tender coconut pieces and saffron strands. Savour this on a sunny afternoon.

 A simple yet tasty  vegetable dish which can be made with  ingredients easily available in any normal Indian kitchen.
Potato Brinjal Curry
This is a curry which tastes good with both rice and roti. It is a balance if sweet sour and spicy tastes. 
Ingredients
3 madium sized brinjals chopped into squares 
3 potatoes peeled and chopped into squares 
2 tspoons roasted sesame seeds, roasted peanuts, chutney dal, dry grated coconut all ground to a coarse powder
1 tspoon of goda masala
2 tspoons of grated jaggery
2 tspoons of tamarind pulp
1 tspoon of chilli powder
Salt to taste
coriander for garnishing

MethodIn a kadhai take oil, put mustard seeds, asafotida, turmeric powder, add the brinjal and potatoes, sprinkle little water, add salt, cook covered till 3/4 th cooked, then add the dry powder, jaggery, tamarind pulp, c.hilli powder, goda masala, water as per need, cover and cook till done. Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy

                     

Keral Kadal Curry

This is a curry I ate when I stayed with Nalini Muralidharan at Cochin. We enjoyed all the Kerala specalities at her place, was an unforgettable experience. Credit goes to Nalini for my knowledge of this dish :) Thanks dear.

Ingredients

 2 00 gms brown chickpeas soaked overnight and pressure cooked

1) The ingredients below should be sauteed in a little coconut oil and ground into a paste
2 onions chopped into thin strips
1/2 cup dry grated coconut
4 dry red chillies

2) The ingredients below should be dry roasted and powdered
2 cloves
1 small piece of cinammon
Few seeds of green cardomom
1/2 tspoon fennel seeds
1/4 of a mace flower

3) 1 tomato chopped and pureed with a small ladle full of the pressure cooked chick peas

Salt to taste
2 dry red chillies broken into pieces for the tempering

Method
In a kadhai take some coconut oil, pour the first step paste into it saute well, now add the second step powdrered masala, cook well, add the third step puree, cook well, add the pressure cooked chick peas, salt to taste and let it boil well, add water as desired. In a small wok take a little oil, fry the dry red chillies and pour on top of the curry. Serve with dosa, puttu or chapati.

I have used red thai curry for the tempering.

Tambit Ladoo ( Nag Panchami Special)
This is a sweet made as an offering to the Snake God whom we worship in the month of Shravan.
Ingredients
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup fried gram split
!/2 cup grated dry coconut
1/2 cup roasted and peeled peanuts
1 and 1/2 cup grated jaggery (jaggery should be the one which is not used in chikkis or else the ladoos will turn out hard and difficult to bite into)
1 small spoon cardamom powder(optional)
2 tablespoons of clarified butter (ghee)
In a kadhai dry roast the fried gram, sesame seeds, dry coconut and grind it lightly in the mixi, see that it does not become a sticky mix and keep aside.
Now in the same kadhai take the ghee put the once it melts put the jaggery, heat it just to a point where it melts, add the ground mixture, peanut powder, cardamom powder, mix well and add enough mixture to see that it is moist and stop adding if u feel it is drying up. U need to start making the ladoos when the mixture is still quite hot or else it will dry and will become difficult to make ladoos. Shape them as shown in the picture. Enjoy:)
Tip- While making the ladoos if the mix starts drying, just sprinkle very few drops of milk this will make your job easier.

I love Christopher Columbus

This   is taken when I went to Coorg, the place to be in if you are looking for spices and coffee. From all the plants, what caught my attention was this shiny little green beauty with which I did not miss clicking a pic.

These chillies are used regularly in my kitchen.

This plant is in my tiny kitchen balcony, swaying happily. Knowing how passionate I am about chillies, the seeds were brought by my daughter straight from Brazil!!! From the time I have discovered that Brazil is the motherland of the Chilli, whenever I look at the chillies on this plant, I sway and am as happy as a lark as if a daisy has bloomed in my garden:)

This one is not a dish but a spicy article which I felt like writing, dedicating it to the most vibrant  ingredient in my kitchen. The article will slowly open the secret to my title!!

Chillies are a very very essential ingredient of  Indian kitchens, as I started learning more and more about food, I discovered that it also has a place in
Thai, Mexican, Korean and Portugal cuisines.

I love chillies is my tagline you can safely say, I say it as often as I can. Then they may be fresh green chillies, yellow chillies, dry red chillies, Thai chillies, Mexican chillies, bird eye chillies, Guntur chillies, Byadgi chillies, fried chillies, stuffed dry chillies, curries made of chillies, saalan made of chillies, jalapenos, or the simple humble maharashtrian  chutney called thecha which always has a special place in my fridge and my heart. Phew!! I just felt like a waiter in a restaurant rattling off the names of dishes from the menu, hehe...

For people who do think that the chilli originates in India this will be a piece of information that, the green chilli actually travelled via the Spice Route when it swiped places in America with black pepper . Dr. Nandita Iyer says in her article published in Mint, that the birth place of chillies can safely be called South America. The domestication started in  Brazil, Bolivia and Mexico. Farming was done between 5000 BC and 3500 BC. How it travelled in exchange for black pepper from South and Central America to Portugal and Spain via what is called Columbia to India and other South Asian countries, is a fascinating journey. This was the phenomenon of transfer of plants, animals and cultures between American and Afro-Eurasian hemispheres in the 15th and the 16th centuries after Christopher Columbus' 1492 voyage. From Spain and Portugal, chillies reached India and South Asian countries via the same Spice Route that took black pepper from India to America. I say, let America keep the black pepper, no problem, we have the spicier counterpart! Portuguese brought them during their first trip around Cape of Good Hope in 1498. Columbus thus set sail to find Silk Route and Spice Route from the East and chillies found a permanent home here. So, the title "I love Christopher Columbus!"

Now for some scientific knowledge of the chillies. The chemical compound found in them that causes the heat and the burning sensation is Capsiacin.This finds a place in ointments used for pain relief too. Spiciness is measured in SHU that is Scoville Heat Units. Bell peppers have a 0 level of SHU in them,
hence are not full of heat.

Chillies add a vibrant colour to the dish and taste to otherwise bland vegetables, rice, meat and grain dishes. Most importantly, they give a balance to the
sweet, sour and salty taste of the dishes.

Harissa Sauce from North America, Mexican Adobo Sauce features Chiptole and Ancho chillies, They give a smoky aroma to the dish. Gohujang from Korea, Sriracha from Thailand, Piri Piri from Portugal are all sauces made from chillies.

Closer to home, Maharashtrian Thecha, The Molga Podis from South, Rajasthani stuffed chilli pickle, Stuffed chillies dried and fried, are had too with poha and curd rice, Mirch bhajiyas, Hyderabadi mirch ka saalan, Bharwan mirch are all names of a few dishes savored in India featuring
CHILLI as the hero of the dish.

I would like to thank Dr. Nandita from whose informative article I have stated some of the facts in my write-up.

As festival season approaches and specially the month of Shravan enters a Hindu household, most of the days you find people observing fasts and following rituals. Here is a recipe for people who fast and would like a bite for breakfast or an evening snack on such days.

Patties for fasts

Ingredients

200 gms of crumbled cottage cheese, you can choose low fat

1/2 cup finely chopped red and yellow bell peppers each

Small bunch of finely chopped coriander

1/2 cup boiled and mashed purple yam

1/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 cup samo rice flour

1/4 cup sago pearl flour

1/4 cup amaranth flour

Salt to taste

Chilli powder to taste

1 tspoon cumin powder

Mix all ingredients well, do not add extra water as far as possible since the cottage cheese has enough moisture. Now make patties in the desired shape and pan fry, just with a little clarified butter smeared on them. Let them turn into light golden brown on both sides and you can savour these with the chutney or as they are with your tea, coffee or you can join me!