Sarson Ka Saag

Come winter and the market is full of the fresh mustard leaves, green and tempting. Inviting you to make the famous sarson ka saag and makke di roti. So I too made it and enjoyed the evergreen recipe.

Ingredients
All ingredients below to be pressure cooked to just one whistle with just enough water
1 bunch mustard leaves, 1 bunch of spinach leaves, 1 bunch of chenopodium album ( bathua in Hindi and chakwat in Marathi) stocks removed washed, roughly chopped
1 onion roughly chopped
1 tomato roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1 inch ginger crushed
3 green chillies crushed
1/2 tspn of salt

For tempering you need 
White butter 2 tspns
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 tspn of ginger garlic paste

For the final step
 2 tspns of corn flour, as in the flour of corn, makai ka aata
1 tspn garam masala

Method
The pressure cooked ingredients should be roughly blended by a hand blender and kept ready

In a deep bottomed pan take the white butter, add the ginger garlic paste, saute, add the onion , saute till golden, add the pressure cooked ingredients, mix well, add salt carefully since we already added a bit, add the makai ka aata, stir to see there are no lumps. Mix well and serve with makke ki roti.

Hummus with Garlic Bread and Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients for the hummus
200 gms chick peas soaked overnight and pressure cooked with a pinch of soda
8-10 cherry tomatoes
3 teaspoons of olive oil
Salt to taste 1/2 a teaspoon of black pepper powder
Juice of half a lime

Method
Grind all the above ingredients to a fine paste remove in a bowl and cut the cherry tomatoes into fours and use as garnish, tomatoes are optional.

For the garlic bread
Take some olive oil put mix crushed garlic and oregano powder in it, spread it over the bread and toast them on a pan, crisp or soft as u like to eat them.
Garlic toast and the hummus is now ready to savour, if u like more olive oil u can pour some over each serving according to taste.

Rice with fresh winter special pulses

This is a quick fix rice dish, when you have unexpected guests and you need to make a filling dish with ingredients usually available in every household. I have used fresh tur dana or green pigeon peas, harbhara or green whole chickpea. They actually take the taste of the simple dish to another level! I was also pleased to use the fresh coriander which grew in my tiny balcony.

Ingredients
2 cups long grain rice
50 gms harbhara
50 gms Tur dana (fresh green pigeon pea)
1 onion finely chopped

Ingredients to be made into a paste
3 green chillies
1/2 an inch of ginger roughly chopped
1 small tomato roughly chopped
1 onion roughly chopped
1 small bunch coriander cleaned and just roughly torn
4 cloves garlic
Juice of half a lime

Method
Keep the paste ready of the ingredients above mentioned.
In a cooker take little oil, add the chopped onion, let it cook till light brown, add the masala paste, salt to taste, the pigeon peas and the chickpeas, rice, mix well, add water double the quantity of rice, give it 2 whistles and it is ready. Serve hot topped with finely chopped coriander.
This dish according to me does not need any accompaniment, but if you do feel like it, then have yogurt or curry with it.
This tastes good when made with any of the seasonal whole green pulses available in the market.

                             
                              Huli, A typically south Indian Spiced Lentil Curry with Vegetables.

You will surely find this curry in all functions in South indian, weddings and also in temples and maths where there is lunch served after we finish worshipping God. Tangy, tasty and spicy. The picture above shows you the curry with red pumpkin which I have chosen to use in the curry, served with rice. This is usually made with vegetables like white pumpkin, drumsticks, french beans and carrots. 

Ingredients
1 cup split pigeon pea lentil pressure cooked to 2 whistles with the vegetables chopped into medium sized cubes, a pinch of turmeric powder, a pinch of asafoetida, a few curry leaves.

The ingredients below need to be ground into a fine powder
6 dry red chillies
1 tsp poppy seeds
2 marathi moggu
1 small piece of cinnamon
2 tbsp of coriander seeds
1/2 tsp black pepper corns
1 small ball of tamarind
Salt to taste

Method
In a deep bottomed pan put oil, add mustard seeds let them splutter, add turmeric powder, asafoetida and now add the pressure cooked lentil with vegetables, add the ground powder, add water as per your liking to bring it to a curry consistency,  let this come to a boil and add salt only if required since we already added salt. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with steaming hot rice.

There is an option of using onion in the tempering, i have chosen to skip it so I could only taste the aromatics and nothing else. I have also used only red pumpkin pieces.

This cute little pumpkin prompted me to make this dish.

                                    

Double Beans Curry with Egg

Ingredients

200 gms of pressure cooked double beans

2 eggs
1 onion chopped into long pieces
For the paste
2 onions chopped in long piece
2 tomatoes
5 green chillies
Some green coriander leave( a small bunch)
1/2 Dry grated coconut
6 cloves of garlic
2 cloves
A tiny piece of cinnamon
A table spoon of lime juice
Salt to taste

Method
Take a kadhai, put some oil, you can use coconut oil too, put the masala paste, saute for a bit and add the extra chopped onion, saute till the masala leaves the pan, add the cooked beans, add salt ( little extra can be added because we will be adding eggs later, or then taste and add later so it does not become salty) squeeze the lime and let it boil adding as much water to bring it to a curry consistency, now break the eggs directly into the curry stirring gently as you add the eggs, egg will get poached in the curry and give it thickness plus the lovely aroma. The curry is ready to serve with hot chapatis or with steamed rice

                                                                             
                                                                      Paneer Dosa

Bored to eat the same old roti subzi, but yet the desire of eating paneer, so the midway out for me was the doas stuffed with paneer and a nice blob of fresh white butter.... slurrrppp

For the dosa use 1 cup black split gram lentil, 3 cups of rice, 1/2 tsp of fenugreek seeds, soaked for about 3-4 hours and ground into a smooth paste and kept to rise overnight, next morning mix salt, 2 tsp of sugar and make dosas

 I have spread green chutney too on the dosa before the paneer burji. (optional)

For the stuffing

200 gms of paneer
2 onions finely chopped
1 tsp of  ginger garlic paste
1 tomato finely chopped
3 green chillies finely chopped
1 tsp of amchur
1 tsp of kitchen king masala
Salt to taste
lots of coriander finely chopped

Method
In a pan take some oil, add the chopped onion saute till golden, add the chillies and the ginger garlic paste, add tomatoes cook till done, add all the masalas, the coriander and mix well cook for a while. The burji is ready.

On a dosa tava spread dosa batter, wait for it to cook a bit,  apply little white butter, spread the green chutney if you wish to or else only the burji and cook it fully roll as shown in the picture and eat.

Kurmura or Puffed Rice

This is a snack item which can be made and preserved in airtight containers, stays good for about a fortnight.

Ingredients

1 regular pack of puffed rice which we use for making bhel
Oil, mustard seeds, turmeric powder, asafoetida and dry red chillies for the tempering
2 spoons of metkoot ( this is a mixture of all grains and pulses dry roasted and ground into a powder)
1/2 cup dalia or chutney dal
1/2 cup peanuts

Method
In a big kadhai make a tempering with rai haldi and hing add the pieces of dry red chilli, peanuts, fried gram, stir for a while till they become crisp, add the puffed rice, salt to taste, sugar to taste and the metkoot, mix well and store in an airtight container after it cools completely.

I am also giving here the recipe of metkoot which is used in making the puffed rice and also the thin variety of beaten rice made in the same manner as above, barring the peanuts and the chutney dal. Also used by mixing with piping hot rice, a drizzle of clarified butter and salt, this is a very tasty mix of a meal. Can be savoured with lime pickle and papad as accompaniments.

Ingredients below should be dry roasted, cooled and made into a fine powder, stored in airtight containers. Stays good for a few months. Make sure you lightly roast the powders mentioned below separately.

1 cup split bengal gram lentil
1/2 cup split black gram lentil
1/2 cup split green gram lentil
1/4 cup rice
1/4 cup wheat
1 heaped tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of dry ginger powder
1/2 cup coriander seeds
1 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4 dry red chillies

                                                     
                                               Spicy Green Rice with a Drizzle of Cheese

My all time favourite rice made into a new delicacy. The rice has all healthy ingredients, but for a careful bit of indulgence! This is the first time I made it and liked it, so sharing with you too.

Ingredients

1 cup long grain basmati pressure cooked to 2 whistles and kept to cool
1 cube of Amul cheese
1 bunch of spinach leaves washed and chopped fine
Small bunch of coriander finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
4 garlic cloves and 1 inch ginger pounded
4 green chillies chopped into medium sized long pieces
1 tomato very finely chopped
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp Garam Masala

Method 
In a pan take some olive oil, add the chopped green chillies, saute a bit, add onion, let it turn golden brown, add the ginger garlic, saute till done, add the chopped tomato cook till it becomes totally mushy, add the coriander and the spinach, stir cook till done, add salt, chilli powder and then the rice. Mix well and finally grate the cube of cheese, cover for a bit till the cheese melts a bit and savour the  piping hot spicy green rice.

Raw Mango Sweet and Sour Chutney

A delicious colourful sweet sour chutney which is made with fresh raw mangoes and can be savoured with bread, roti, curd rice and also with lunch basically as a side.I remember my mom very promptly refilling the bowl of chutney every time we polished it off.

Ingredients

1/2  tsp of dry roasted mustard seeds
2 raw mangoes grated
1 tablespoon of grated jaggery

1/4 tsp of dry roasted fenugreek seeds

Salt to taste
5-6 leaves of mustard cress
1 small spoon of chilli powder
Salt to taste

You need a tempering made of oil, mustard seeds, turmeric powder and asafoetida, I have chosen to skip it though.

My chutney has a garnish of lovely mustard cress from my tiny balcony, the bite of this gives a pungent, peppery heat to the palate.

Method

You just need to grind all the above ingredients to a not so fine paste, except the tempering which will be used as a topping after the chutney is transferred into the serving bowl.

                                             
                                                 Spinach Mushroom Cheesy Bites

 A very tasty spicy evening snack to be had on a chilly evening with tea.

Ingredients
Slices of brown bread as per requirement
200 gms of mushrooms washed and chopped into small pieces
1 bunch of spinach washed cleaned and chopped fine
6 garlic cloves and an inch of ginger and 6 peppercorns pounded in the mortar pestle
2 onions finely chopped
2 tomatoes pureed freshly
1 tsp of chilli powder
Salt to taste
Cheese spread, I used plain Amul cheese spread
Any cheese cubes or a block for grating on the bread slices
Olive oil 

Method
In a pan take olive oil, add the pounded ginger garlic and peppercorns, saute till well done, add the onion and cook till golden, now add the tomato puree and salt and chilli powder, stir to make a mushy mix,  add mushrooms, cook well, add spinach and cook till the water has all dried almost. keep it only as much moist as you need it to spread easily on the bread. 

Take each bread slice spread little cheese spread, the mushroom spinach mix, grate little cheese and put them in the preheated oven for five minutes, the cheese melts and the bread becomes a little crisp, cut each slice into fours and your cheesy bites are ready. 

                                                                     
                                                                         Ghee Rice

An extremely tasty, subtly flavoured rice dish, absolutely palatable, from the treasury of my mother's recipes. Was made on special days, served with a special dal for accompaniment, or as it is.

Ingredients

2 cups long grain basmati rice cooked with a little ghee, some white peppercorns and salt and cooled.
2 onions chopped into thin long pieces
6 roughly crushed garlic cloves
1 inch of cinnamon, 3 cloves pounded in the mortar pestle
Salt if required, since we already cooked the rice with salt
1/4 tspn of sugar
2 tspns of lime juice

Method

In a pan take 4 tspns of ghee, add the pounded spices, wait for the aromas to be released, then add the crushed garlic, saute a bit, add the onions, let them turn almost brown, like caramelised, then add the rice, salt if necessary, the lime juice and the sugar, stir to mix well and your delightful rice is ready.

                                                             
                                                           Chilli Coriander Egg Rice

I am a rice lover and a chilli lover to top it, I literally can live on any kind of rice dish. The key ingredient here is the green chilli!! So I relish it all the more. Here goes the recipe of this simple yet tasty delicacy.

1 cup long grain basmati rice, pressure cooked and cooled. The grains should be separate and not sticky.

3 eggs, made into a scramble with salt, pepper and a bit if milk, kept ready.

4 green chillies chopped crossways into thin pieces,  a medium sized  bunch of coriander finely chopped, salt to taste, 10 black pepper corns pounded roughly.

Method

In a pan take some olive oil, saute the chillies, add the rice, salt, pepper powder, mix and then add the egg scramble,  mix well, ad the coriander and mix well again. Serve as it is or with vegetable manchurian. Tasted great with the dry manchurian.

ChanaMasala

This is my Mum's recipe and all of us enjoy it made this way, I can remember my college days at Bengaluru in VHD institute of Home Science we had a canteen day, our batch would cook in the college canteen on Thursdays and my Chana Masala and Carrot Halwa were big hits!!

Ingredients
200 gms of kabuli chana soaked previous night, pressure cooked with salt and little edible soda
3 onions finely chopped
2 tablespoons of tamarind pulp
1 tspn cumin powder
1 tspn coriander powder
1 tspn pepper powder
1 tspn garlic paste
1 tspn ginger paste
1 tspn chilli powder
Salt to taste
Finely chopped coriander for garnishing

Method

Take oil in a bottomed pan put the ginger garlic paste, saute a bit, add onions cook it till brown, add all powders, the salt (add salt with care since we added it while cooking the chana), tamarind paste cook well then add the boiled chana, stir mix well and see if it is too thick then add little water to make it a required consistency. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander, serve with pooris or bhaturas. Enjoy accompanied with freshly chopped onion, tomato and sauteed green chilli.

 Double Beans Curry

A delicious curry which can be had with rice, roti, phulka and paratha. The beans when used fresh give amazing taste. You can  soak and use dry ones too, when they go out of season. 

Ingredients

250 gms of double beans, soaked overnight and pressure cooked to 2 whistles the next day, if they are the dry variety, if fresh then they are ready to use.let mix well, add salt to taste

For making into a paste you will need
1/2 cup coconut freshly scraped
2 onions roughly chopped
2 tomatoes roughly chopped
1 inch ginger roughly chopped
1 tspn of black peppercorns
1 tspn of cumin seeds
Small spoon of turmeric powder
3 -4 sprigs of fresh coriander
3 cloves

Do not add these ingredients while  grinding
Salt to taste
1 tspn of chilli powder
1 tspn of malwani masala

Method
In a cooker take coconut oil, you can use any other refined oil if not coconut, add cumin seeds, let them splutter, add turmeric, add the ground paste and let this cook till it releases oil, now add the other powders, salt to taste, the beans too, if they are precooked then do not throw away the water in which they were soaked, if they are fresh then adjust the quantity of water as per curry consistency. Pressure cook to two whistles and serve after transferring into a serving bowl and garnishing with fresh coriander.

                                                                 
                                                                    Bittergourd Dry

This can be had as an accompaniment in your meal when the main dish is a curry, or it can be savored with curd rice also.

Ingredients

4 tender bitter gourds, choose light coloured ones, a little smaller in size, so the bitterness is less and also then they don't need to be kept in salt water before cooking. Normally I neither scrape them nor do I boil them in salt water.

1/2 cup dry grated coconut, 1/2 cup sesame seeds,  1/2 cup peanuts dry roasted and ground to a coarse powder with 

1 tspn of aamchur
1 tspn of Goda Masala
1 tspn of sugar
1 tspn of chilli powder
Salt to taste
Fresh chopped coriander 

Method

Chop the bitter gourds into roundels, after deseeding them. Boil them in plain water just to soften them a little so we don't need to use too much oil while cooking them.

In a pan take oil, add the chopped parboiled bitter gourds, saute till light golden, add all the masalas and the ground powder, the coriander too, keep cooking till the rawness of all the ingredients disappears and the gourd becomes light brown in the spices. Cook on a slow flame so the spices do not burn. Now transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with coriander if you wish to. I have skipped the garnish since I added the coriander while cooking.

Melon Feta Salad

A very refreshing easy crunchy salad!

In a mixing bowl you need to take
1/2 cup watermelon pieces
1/2 cup cucumber pieces
1/2 cup tomato pieces
1/2 cup musk melon pieces
1 bunch of salad leaves roughly broken
1/4 cup feta cheese broken roughly or crumbled
1/4 cup olives
2 tablespoons of olive io
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder

Mix all ingredients well and serve chilled.

                                                           
                                                                  Stuffed Sweet Poli

                                     Indian flat bread with a stuffing of dry figs and cashews, lovely cashews brought  straight from Goa by my sweet friend Rachana. She always the first one to like my recipes and share my links. A big thanks to her for the appreciation and love. It is people like you who keep us motivated to do better and post new recipes. Thanks once again dear.

Ingredients

 For the dough I used normal whole wheat chapati dough, make it and let it sit for about half an hour.

For the stuffing

6 pieces of the dry figs, easily available at the dry fruit store
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup of milk
All the above to be blended ( not too smooth) to a mixture

Method

In a pan take the blended mixture, add sugar, take care of how much sugar to add, since the figs in itself are quite sweet, cook it till it becomes into a semi hard mixture. The texture should be not too wet, not too dry, you should be able to stuff this into the dough ball. Cool and make into small equal sized ball. Now stuff each dough ball with the mixture, very gently roll out into a thin roti and roast with ghee on the pan. Roast as shown in the picture and savour it with the blob of  home made ghee which will melt slowly on the hot roti.

While roasting, the aroma of the dryfruit and the ghee is so inviting, it is heavenly to savour this with the home made ghee!!

                                     
                                          Mushrooms in slow roasted tomato and basil gravy

A sure experi-mental dish, I thought of trying this when I saw lots of  lovely sweet basil growing in my tiny balcony. I had tasted the slow roasted tomato basil soup in one of my favourite restaurants and loved the flavour. My son loves pepper of any kind, black, white, red, green fresh ones, so I have used 2 kinds of pepper and cloves, the only  aromatics  to add to the aroma of basil. 

Ingredients
250 gms of mushrooms cleaned chopped and sauteed with a little salt

2 tomatoes chopped into roundels
2 sprigs of sweet basil or about 10 to 12 leaves
2 onions chopped into thin long pieces
1 inch ginger crushed
6 cloves of garlic
1 tspn chilli powder
1 tspn of black peppercorns, 1 tspn of white peppercorns, 3 cloves pounded in a mortar pestle

3  green chillies slit in between for the garnish

Method

On a flat pan smear a bit of oil and arrange the basil and the tomato roundels to roast on a slow flame, flip and cook each piece and leaf till done

Meanwhile in another  take some oil, add the pounded spices, saute a bit till the aroma spreads in the 
kitchen,  add the garlic saute till light brown, add the ginger and  the onions, cook this till it turns golden brown. Now blend all the ingredients to a smooth paste, this includes the tomato basil too.

In the same pan as you cooked  the masala add the paste and cook till done, no need of oil since the ingredients have already been cooked in oil, cook till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Add the mushrooms and salt  and add water if required. 

For the final garnish I have used only a bit of oil and the slit chillies.

Serve with roti, phulka, rice or paratha. What will hit your palate first is the pepper, what remains on your tongue after eating it is the sweet aroma of the basil.

Got good pictures of the basil flower, felt like sharing them with all of you.

Egg curry with spring onion

A curry which is a big hit in my family, I remember the huge vessel in which this would be made by mom and would be polished off within no time, the credit for the recipe goes to her. Can be eaten with roti, rice, bread or phulkas

6 eggs boiled chopped into halves and kept ready

Ingredients for the masala powder which u can make and store
100 gms black peeper, green cardomom, cloves, cinammon, shahijeera, cumin seeds

50 gms nakesar, bayleaf, pattharphool, rampatri.
Dry all these in the sun and grind to a fine powder

Ingredients to pressure cook
1 cup pigeon pea lentil or tur dal
1 bunch of the spring onion, only half of the green leafy portion finely chopped (the rest will be used in the tempering)

For the gravy
Grind to a fine paste
One onion 3-4 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons full of groundnuts
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
7/8 black peppercorns
4 green chillies
1/2 an inch of ginger
2 normal onions cut fine kept aside
Chopped baby shallots
Coriander finely chopped for garnishing
Salt to taste

Method

In a pan take some oil, add the finely chopped onions saute till pink in colour add the ground paste, cook till the masala leaves the pan. Add the finely chopped onions and the baby shallots from the spring onions, cook till the onions become transparent, saute half the spring onions too which we kept aside, now add 1 teaspoon of the ground masala powder, little more if u like it stronger, as per ur taste since the powder is in itself quite strong. Mix well add the cooked dal and spring onion mixture , add water as per required consistency, depending upon whether u are eating it with rice or roti. Add salt as per taste. Give it a nice boil, u can now add the eggs and cook for a while, serve garnished with finely chopped coriander. You can saute the eggs just for a bit before adding them to the curry if you wish to.

Egg curry with spring onion

A curry which is a big hit in my family, I remember the huge vessel in which this would be made by mom and would be polished off within no time, the credit for the recipe goes to her. Can be eaten with roti, rice, bread or phulkas

6 eggs boiled chopped into halves and kept ready

Ingredients for the masala powder which u can make and store
100 gms black peeper, green cardomom, cloves, cinammon, shahijeera, cumin seeds

50 gms nakesar, bayleaf, pattharphool, rampatri.
Dry all these in the sun and grind to a fine powder

Ingredients to pressure cook
1 cup pigeon pea lentil or tur dal
1 bunch of the spring onion, only half of the green leafy portion finely chopped (the rest will be used in the tempering)

For the gravy
Grind to a fine paste
One onion 3-4 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons full of groundnuts
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
7/8 black peppercorns
4 green chillies
1/2 an inch of ginger
2 normal onions cut fine kept aside
Chopped baby shallots
Coriander finely chopped for garnishing
Salt to taste

Method

In a pan take some oil, add the finely chopped onions saute till pink in colour add the ground paste, cook till the masala leaves the pan. Add the finely chopped onions and the baby shallots from the spring onions, cook till the onions become transparent, saute half the spring onions too which we kept aside, now add 1 teaspoon of the ground masala powder, little more if u like it stronger, as per ur taste since the powder is in itself quite strong. Mix well add the cooked dal and spring onion mixture , add water as per required consistency, depending upon whether u are eating it with rice or roti. Add salt as per taste. Give it a nice boil, u can now add the eggs and cook for a while, serve garnished with finely chopped coriander. You can saute the eggs just for a bit before adding them to the curry if you wish to.

Raw Banana Subzi

Ingredients

4 raw bananas peeled and cut into medium sized long pieces, sauteed in .coconut oil till light brown adding salt as required

For the masala
4 green chillies
2 raw green tomatoes chopped roughly
2 onions chopped roughly
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut
1 inch ginger
6 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
All the above ingredients should be put in a chutney jar and ground into a smooth paste

Method
In a kadhai, take little coconut oil , pour the ground paste, cook for a while adding little water if the gravy is too thick, once it leaves the sides of the kadhai add the already sauteed banana, add little salt if required, mix well, drizzle little coconut oil on top, garnish with finely chopped coriander and serve with phulka, roti as per choice.

                                                     
                                                        Vegetable made of broad beans

A very tasty accompaniment with phulkas, specially if the beans are fresh this dish gives the best taste.

Ingredients

250 gms of broad beans, deveined, chopped into small pieces and pressure cooked to 1 whistle with minimal quantity of water, so you don't need to throw it away while tempering the vegetable.
Salt to taste
1/2 tspn chilli powder
1 tspn goda masala easily available in the market
1 tbspn of jaggery
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut
Coriander for garnishing

For the dry powder

Dry roast 1/4 cup peanuts and peel them, 1/4 cup dry grated coconut, 1/4 cup white sesame seeds, once cool grind all these into a coarse powder and keep ready.

In a pan take some oil and add mustard seeds, allow them to splutter and add turmeric powder and asafoetida, add the broad beans and with a little water in which they were pressure cooked, add all the above mentioned ingredients, I have added the coriander too while cooking itself. Cover and cook till the jaggery melts, mix well, see that it is moist enough and serve hot with phulkas.  

                                                                   
                                                                    Creamy Rabdi

  A very Indian, very delicious creamy delight of a dessert. Can be enjoyed as it is or with hot puris.

As I put up this post, I travel back in memory when I was a child. I loved anything to do with cream, fresh thick layer of cream when my mom or grandmom heated the milk early morning!! I would just pick up the whole layer and gobble it up within seconds! The first coffee of the day would be  made for me by my mom full with a layer of cream, My mom's gone and so is the layer of cream on my coffee.My brothers called me Billi beacuse I ate so much cream and also scratched them with my enamelled nails... he he..koi lauta de mere beete hue din.

I have wandered off  to another story instead of giving you the recipe! So here comes....

Ingredients

2 litres of low fat milk or skimmed milk
1 cup of sugar, you can use sugar free but the taste will not be the same
Few strands of saffron
1/4 of a nutmeg grated freshly
Some blueberries soaked in water for garnishing
The almonds I have used have come out of the dry apricots

Method 

Take a kadhai big enough to fit the two litres of milk, wash with water but do not wipe dry because this helps the milk not to catch the bottom. Pour the milk in the kadhai and bring it to a boil constantly stirring till it boils, now leave it to form a layer of cream on top, now stir gently without breaking the layer in to very small pieces. This process must continue every time the layer forms till the milk reduces to a stage where it holds in the spoon and does not remain flowy, now add the sugar, the saffron strands and grate the nutmeg directly into the mixture, stir well till the sugar melts and the aromatics get infused. Take it off the flame, transfer to a serving bowl, bring it to room temperature, garnish chill and serve the yummy delight.

                                                     
                                                           Curry with Southern Flavours

This curry has some typically southern ingredients and the flavour that lingers on your tongue after eating it is of the nutty sweet coconut. Hope you enjoy making and savoring another of my experi-mental dishes.

Ingredients

Florets of 1 broccoli, par boiled and kept aside

1/2 cup fresh mushrooms chopped into medium sized pieces
1/2 each of yellow, green and red bell peppers chopped into medium sized squares

For the gravy
2 big onions chopped into long pieces
2 big tomatoes chopped into long pieces
2 tspns of ginger garlic freshly crushed
2 tspoons of white peppercorns, 3 cloves freshly cpounded ( the ones I bought straight from the  spice shop at Coorg )   
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut
A handful of curry leaves
1 tspn chilli powder

1 cup thick coconut milk to be used later to add in the gravy

Method

In a pan take some coconut oil and add the chopped bell peppers and the mushrooms, give them a quick stir on slightly high flame, remove once done and keep aside. 

In the same pan take the freshly crushed ginger, garlic, peppercorns and cloves saute till done, now add the curry leaves, onions and the coconut, saute well, add tomatoes and wait till they are soft. Once done, cool and grind this mixture to a smooth paste.

Transfer this into the pan and let it cook well till the gravy leaves the sides of the pan, now add the salt, the chilli powder, and all the vegetables, adjust the consistency, let it cook to a boil, now add the coconut milk, do not keep for too long after adding the coconut milk else it may curdle. You can use fresh corinder for garnishing. I have used fresh tomato pieces and a tempering of slit green chillies. Can be eaten with phulkas, rotis, malbar parathas, and our own simple steaming hot plain rice.

                                         Savoury Jaffle with mushrooms and mixed greens

Watching the show Masterchef Australia,  I have seen a wide variety of savory and sweet jaffles being prepared, this is my own version of a savory jaffles.

Ingredients

Slices of brown bread as per requirement, buttered, I use Amul Lite, very sparingly though, just to give the bread a flavour.

For the stuffing

250 gms of fresh mushrooms
1 bunch of spinach
1 small bunch of fenugreek
1 small bunch of dil
1 small bunch of coriander
All the above cleaned and chopped fine, mushrooms kept separately.

For the masala
2 onions finely chopped
5 green chillies, 5 garlic cloves, 1 inch of ginger, 1 tspn of black peppercorns to be pounded in a mortar pestle
Salt to taste

Method

In a pan take some olive oil, add the pounded spices, saute till done, add the chopped onion, saute till golden, add the mushrooms, let them cook, now add the leafy vegetables including the coriander, salt to taste and cook till it becomes dry enough to be stuffed. 

Now take the buttered bread stuff the ready mix, make a sandwich and toast in the jaffle maker till done, we like them crisp. Make them as per your choice. 

                                                Vegetable made from amaranth leaves

On my recent trip to Rajasthan we travelled from Udaipur to Kumbhalgadh and we saw fields fully green and beautiful with corn growing everywhere.  In between were patches of dark red fields, curious as I am about nature I enquired with the driver what that was. He explained that the seeds were used in fast (vrat),  laddoos are made and so and so. I realised it was the amaranth. Was excited about making the vegetable once I was back and saw fresh amaranth with my regular vendor. Here goes the recipe and the picture of the plant.

Ingredients

2 bunches of fresh amaranth stocks removed washed and chopped finely
3 onions finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic crushed 
4 green chillies chopped
1/2 cup freshly scraped coconut 
Salt to taste
A squeeze of lime 

Method

In a pan take some coconut oil, add mustard let it splutter, add turmeric powder and asafoetida, 
add the chillies, saute a bit, add the garlic let it turn light brown, add the onion, let it turn golden brown, add the amaranth and now add salt to taste and cook covered until nearly cooked, add 3/4 of the coconut, cover and let it cook completely, let the vegetable be juicy enough, add the lemon juice, give it a stir and serve garnished with the rest of the coconut. The sweet nutty taste of the raw coconut garnish elevates the taste of the dish.

                               
                                 Dosa made of mixed sprouts with a stuffing of cottage cheese

A dish that can be called a fully loaded health treat. The dosa batter is made of mixed sprouts and the stuffing is made of cottage cheese in a roasted tomato and home grown sweet basil sauce.

Ingredients

2 cups of mixed sprouts, I soaked them for half a day, tied them in a cloth and let them sprout for another day,  I used green gram, horse gram, red lentil and a bit of chick peas ground into a paste with 2 cloves of garlic, 1 spoon black pepper corns, 4 green chillies, made a batter of dosa consistency  and kept it ready for use. Add salt to taste and some semolina if you find the need. 

For the stuffing

250 gms cottage cheese
2 finely chopped onions
2 tomatoes chopped into roundels
2 sprigs of sweet basil
1 tspn of chilli powder
1 tspn of ginger garlic paste
1 tspn garam masala
Salt to taste
1 sprig of sweet basil for garnishing

Any cheese for the topping, cubes, slices or grated.

Method

 On a pan sprinkle little mustard oil, keep the tomato roundels to roast with the sweet basil leaves from 2 sprigs, once done make a fine paste and keep ready to use.
  
In a kadhai take mustard oil, add onions, let it turn light brown, add the ginger garlic paste,the tomato basil paste, let the paste cook and leave oil, add chilli powder, salt and the garam masala, mix well and 2 tbspns  thick yogurt. cook well and its ready.

Now on a dosa pan sprinkle a bit of oil, spread the batter to make a dosa, once you see it is done, spread the cottage cheese stuffing, cheese, keep a sweet basil leaf at equal distance, fold and enjoy. This is how to add the stuffing.

                                         
                                           Egg scramble with fenugreek and mustard cress

This can easily be called another of my experi-mental dishes. Enjoyed by my family and hoping you will enjoy making it too.The mustard cress is from my tiny balcony, fresh and yumm.

Ingredients
6 eggs
A bunch of mustard cress
A bunch of fenugreek leaves
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 tspn ginger roughly crushed
1 tspn of black pepper freshly pounded
1 tspn of chilli powder
2 finely chopped onions
1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
1 tspn of kitchen king masala
1 tspn of aamchur or dry mango powder
Salt to taste
Some fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Method

In a pan take some mustard oil, add crushed garlic and ginger, give it a stir, add the onion and let it turn golden, add the tomato and the greens, add all the masalas and salt too. Let this saute till everything gets cooked well, now break the eggs into the pan and make a scramble like mixture, let it remain juicy and moist, remove from the fire and serve garnished with fresh coriander. I was lucky again to find some lovely coriander flowers for the garnish!! Placed them with the tweezer, just like  my favorite Chef George.

Bruschetta made with brown bread and exotic vegetables

Some dishes that I have learnt from my daughter Ashwini Kulkarni are worth a share, this is one of them.

Ingredients
Slices of brown bread

50 gms paneer

1 small broccoi
15 olives
10 french beans
50 gms fresh mushrooms
1 small carrot( all the above should be cut into
1/2 cup olive oil for making the spread and 2 tbspns to saute the vegetables
6 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tbspn mixed herbs chilli flakes as per taste, u want it little spicy then chop and use 4 thai chillies salt as per taste
oregano as per taste

cheddar cheese as per taste

Method

In the half cup of olive oil put the crushed garlic, little salt and the mixed herbs and let it rest for an hour or so,

Saute the vegetables in olive oil, add salt, sprinkle little water so they do not burn, add the mixed herbs stir for a while and keep it ready.
Spread the olive oil mixture on to the slices of bread and both the sides, lay them in the pan, spread the sauetyed veg mix , put the cheese, oregano and cook with lid till the cheese becomes little soft and melts. Serve them as u remove them from the pan to get the best taste.

                                   
                                       Tortilla with Avacado, mushrooms and smoked cheese.

Another of my experi-mental dishes with my own version of avacado sauce and the stuffing of mushrooms.

Ingredients
6 plain phulkas made with whole wheat flour

For the sauce
1 avacado
2 green chillies
2 tbspns of olive oil
8 peppercorns
Salt to taste
Few cilantro leaves
2 tspns of lime juice

Method
Scoop out the avacado pulp, mix all the above ingredients and grind to a chutney or a sauce. Keep ready.

For the stuffing
2 packets of mushrooms cleaned and chopped into small pieces
6 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tspn of ginger paste
4 finely chopped green chillies
Small bunch of cilantro finely chopped
1/2 tspn of pepper powder
Salt to taste
2 tspns of dark soy sauce
3 tspns of grated smoked cheese

Method
In a pan take some olive oil and saute the garlic till golden, add the chiilies and the ginger, give this a stir, add cilantro, now add the mushrooms, salt, pepper powder, soy sauce and saute till semi dry, add the cheese one minute before taking the pan off the fire. mix well and keep rady.

Method of assembling the final dish 

Place a tava to heat, smear some butter, I used Amul lite. Now keep the phulka and spread the avcado sauce on it, spread  the mushroom mix, fold as shown in the  picture, flip over and roast evenly on both the sides for just two minutes and serve hot.