Kokum Sharbat ( Juice of Garcinia Indica )
As the month of May approaches and the sun really starts burning down on you, this drink prevents you from having nausea, headaches and keeps you cool.
This is made of a fruit called Kokum or Amsol in Maharashtra and is widely used in curries and many other dishes as a souring agent. it is also used in coastal curries all over india.
This can be made with the fruit which is dried and preserved by adding rock salt and is available in the market. The concentrate is also available which can be diluted in chilled water and had as a drink.
What I have done here is, boiled 5-6 kokums in three glasses of water with salt, sugar as per taste, people who can not have sugar can take it only with salt too, and cumin powder as required and strained it into glasses. U can chill this and have it.
Aloo Methi
Ingredients
3 potatoes boiled and peeled, chopped into squares
1 bunch methi, cleaned and finely chopped
1 spoon chilli powder
Salt to taste
3 tspns oil, a pinch of hing and a small spoon of haldi for tempering
Method
In a kadhai make tempering with oil, jeera, haldi and hing, put in the methi, stir well till cooked, add the potatoes, salt and chilli powder mix well cook for a bit and serve with roti or phulkas.
Egg Chutney Sandwich
This dish is the result of an unexpected experi-mental attempt, on a suggestion from my husband who is a fan of the green chutney. I was highly bored to cook, there were hardly any ingredients at home, what with maids on a holiday and no time to shop! Saw a few eggs, a pack of whole wheat bread, some fresh coriander and the thought of a dish came and was executed with success of the dish being tasty. Then came the thought of sharing with all of you.
Chutney is the combination of 1 bunch of coriander, few leaves of mint, a squeeze of lime, 6 green chillies, 4 garlic cloves, a piece of ginger, salt to taste and a big tomato roughly chopped. All this to be made into a chutney.
4 boiled eggs chopped into thin long pieces.
Take each slice of bread, spread the chutney on it, arrange pieces of eggs and make the sandwich. Yummy dinner ready.
Misal Pav
Misal Pav is a very tasty tongue tickler, which can be had at any time of the day, for breakfast, lunch, supper and dinner. A full meal in itself. A little indulgent yes, but nutritious too. I have skipped the pav and had it with brown whole wheat bread, which claims to be less harmful than the pav made of fine flour. Home made is the best no doubt, but this is available all over Mumbai, at the roadside stalls, small eateries and also a few restaurants which serve authentic regional cuisine.
Ingredients
Ingredients
2 cups of sprouted Matki ( Moth Beans ) Pressure cooked to two whistles
2 onions finely chopped, 1 roughly chopped for grinding
4 green chillies
6 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece of ginger chopped
1 tomato roughly chopped
1/2 cup grated dry coconut
1 smal spoon of turmeric powder
2 tspoons of tamarind pulp
1 small bunch of coriander finely chopped
Salt to taste
2 tspoons of saar masala
To Make the misal you need mixed farsaan, thin variety of sev and some chopped onion, chillies finely chopped and finely chopped coriander, lime pieces to squeeze on top.
Method
In a mixer jar take 1 roughly chopped onion, ginger, garlic, coconut, tomato, chillies, turmeric powder, tamarind paste, some coriander and grind to a fine paste. Keep this ready.
In a deep bottomed pan take some oil, add the 2 finely chopped onions, add some turmeric powder, saute till golden brown, then add the ground paste, add salt, the saar masala, cook till it leaves the sides of the pan, add the cooked matki, add water and let it boil and cook well till it forms a nice gravy. Add water only if required.
Once the curry or usal is ready, in a bowl, take some usal, farsaan, finely chopped onion, chillies, and mix well, remove in a serving plate and garnish with some onion, sev and chopped coriander, add a dah of lime finally if you like it a bit more sour, savour it as it is or with whole wheat bread or pav. the choice is yours.
Stuffed Pointed Gourd ( Parwar )
Ingredients
500 gms of pointed gourd, washed peeled and deseeded with a slit in between, lengthwise
1 cup dry grated coconut
6 dry red chillies
1/4 cup peanuts roasted and peeled
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tspoons of goda masala
Salt to taste
1/2 cup fresh coriander
Method
Dry roast the sesame seeds, chillies and the coconut, put them in a mixi jar, add the oriander, salt, goda masala and the peanuts and make a fine powder. Now fill the gourds with the powder. In a kadhai take little oil and put the stuffed gourds, sprinkle little salt, give it a sprinkle of water and then cook covered. If there is any ground masala remaining add that into the gourds too. See that the masala does not burn at the same time see that the gourds get cooked. Serve with phulkas or chapatis.
The super tasty, refreshing raw mango cooler
This raw mango cooler is available only during summer and tastes best when fresh and chilled. It is sold in all restaurants and eateries and you will find people with home made juice in coolers selling it on the road too. It does refresh and enrgise you on a hot sunny day.
Ingredients
2 raw mangoes washed, peeled and pressure cooked.
1/2 cup jaggery grated
1 small spoon of green cardamom powder
1 small spoon of nutmeg powder
1/4 tspoon of pepper powder
Salt to taste
A few strands of saffron
Method
In a big vessel remove the pulp of the mango, add the jaggery, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, salt and pepper powder and mix well with the hand blender or all the ingredients can be made into a fine paste in a mixi jar too. Once done then add the required amount of water to bring it to a juice consistency. At last add a few strands of saffron and leave it to chill. The juice after a while will get infused with the colour and the taste of saffron. Serve chilled.
Dal Methicha Varan, Curry Made of Split Pigeon Pea and Fenugreek Seeds
This again is a popular Maharashtrian dish, best eaten with Jwarichi Bhakri. This bhakri is made of sorghum flour. To add an extra punch in your meal, serve it with some mirchi thecha, the very spicy green chilli chutney. I must mention here that I love eating it with plain rice too.
Ingredients
2 cups toor dal (split pigeon pea)
1/4 tspoon fenugreek seeds
4 green chillies
1/4 cup freshly scraped coconut
20 cloves of garlic
1 cup fresh chopped coriander
Method
Wash and drain water from the dal and keep ready.
In a mixi jar make a paste of green chillies, a few fenugreek seeds, the coconut and some fresh coriander, 3-4 garlic cloves.
In a wide bottomed pan take some oil and make a tempering of mustard seeds, once they splutter add asefoetida, turmeric powder and the remaining fenugreek seeds, let the turn golden brown then add the dal, fry till lightly browned, ad water, about four cups nad let it cook covered, keep a watch on the dal and once it cooks almost 3/4 then add the ground paste, add water if needed, this is not to be too runny, neither to be too thick. Now add salt and cook till the dal cooks completely.
To garnish you need to again make a tempering of oil, mustard seeds, asefoetida and turmeric, now add the remaining cloves of garlic in the oil and keep frying them till light brown and crisp, a little before they are done add 4 green chillies slit. Garnish the ready dal with this tempering just before serving to retain the crispiness of the garlic.
