Vegetable Made of Kand

Kand is a root vegetable like the yam, purple yam, potato, sweet potato. This is one of the yam family, white inside, not as sticky as the yam, does not soften too much on boiling too. The pieces chopped into fingers remain firm enough to be enjoyed in every bite. The recipe below is my own experi-mental one.

Ingredients
250 gms of yams, I took about three of them, peeled and chopped into fingers, boiled to a firm texture

2 onions chopped into long pieces, well separated
Some fresh coriander chopped
Salt to taste
Squeeze of a lime

For the gravy

1 onion  roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh scraped coconut
1 tspn of poppy seeds
1/2 tspn of black pepper corns
2 green chillies, adjust the number since the other aromatics here also give enough pungency
1small piece of ginger
1 tspn of cumin seeds
1 tspn of coriander seeds
 Grind all these together to a smooth paste

Method

in a pan take some coconut oil, I use this to get a fresh nutty aroma in the dish. Once heated add the ground mixture, keep coking till it leaves the sides of the pan, add the boiled yam, stir to ix well, add the required quantity of water, mix well, let it cook for a while, now add the 2 onions that are chopped into thin long pieces, coriander and let it boil well together. Now add a dash of lime, very little, else the nutty taste would get killed. Mix and serve with any type of roti, puri, paratha or even bread tastes good. 

                                            
                                                                     This is the one I used

                                                      Holi Special Puran Poli My Way

This is an Indian bread stuffed with sweet mixture made of lentil, jaggery and some aromatics.

The colourful festival of Holi and  what comes to mind is the Puran Poli. I made it too, a little late in the day though! Like a good teacher I was busy teaching my students.....hehe...now since the exams are almost ending I am here with a special Maharahstrian recipe. Used the seasonal flower Tabibuia  Rosea to decorate my Poli. They are trumpet shaped purple flowers found in large numbers forming awesome flower beds in my colony........ Now here comes my recipe.....

Ingredients

For The dough
2 cups of whole wheat four
1 table spoon of semolina
2 table spoons of oil
A dash of salt
Mix all the above ingredients to a dough which is neither too firm nor too soft. Smear some oil, cover and let it sit for about half an hour.

For the stuffing
2 cups of split gram lentil/ chana dal pressure cooked with double the water to 5 whistles
2 cups of grated jaggery
1 tspn of green cardamom powder
1 tspn of nutmeg powder
Once the lentil is cooked, let it cool, drain ( this water can be used in your dals or a special soup is made with this which is called Katachi Amti in Marathi) and then mix the rest of the above mentioned ingredients and grind to a smooth mixture.

Transfer the ground mixture into a pan and cook till almost all the moisture evaporates, it should come to a consistency to make into balls to be stuffed in the dough. Leave it to cool. 

Method of making the poli

Make equal sized balls with the dough, stuff the mix into the dough, cover well, roll it gently and roast on a pan with oil or clarified butter or toop as it is called in Marathi, to a colour shown in my picture. Savour with a bowl of ghee. We love to dip each morsel in the lovely fresh home made ghee and stuff ourselves to satisfaction. You must try this too. 

                   
                                                                    Gajar Moong Tikki

                                     Patties Made Of Carrots And Split Green Gram Lentil

This patti is an experi-mental one. I made these because I like the sweetness of the carrots and the taste of the split green gram lentil. Addition of potatoes gave it a nice taste, i used plain oats for the binding  instead of bread. 

Ingredients

1)
2 carrots grated
1 cup split green gram lentil soaked for half an hour in water
2 green chillies
1/2 spoon grated fresh turmeric
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander chopped 

2)
2 potatoes pressure cooked
2 gooseberries grated
1 cup oats soaked in just enough yogurt
Fresh chopped coriander

Method

First take a pan and make a tempering of oil, mustard seeds asafoetida, add chopped chillies, grated turmeric, saute, add the carrot, add the soaked lentil, salt, add water enough for the lentil to cook soft, cook covered. Keep stirring in between  to check if the lentil is soft and cooked then the mixture is ready. There should be no water remaining in it.

Now in a mixing bowl take the ready lentil carrot mix, add the potatoes, coriander, salt if needed, gooseberry grated, drain out the water and add the oats. Mix well, make equal sized balls, make patties and shallow fry or pan fry on both sides till golden and they are ready to be enjoyed as a tea time snack. 

                                                      Parathas Made With Fresh Haldi
                                                  Indian Flat Bread With Fresh Turmeric

The parathas I am talking about have a distinct flavour and colour of fresh turmeric. The pungency hits the throat after you finish your morsel. The kitchen is filled with the aroma of fresh turmeric as soon as you start to peel and use it. The awesome yellowish tinge of the parathas comes from the same magic ingredient too.  I have not used any other aromatics since they would spoil the fun of the turmeric. Here goes my recipe.... 

Ingredients

 All the ingredients mentioned her need to be put in a mixi jar, ground to a coarse mix
2 cups of green peas
2 inches of turmeric peeled and chopped roughly
4 green chillies
Juice of 1 lime
Few sprigs of fresh coriander
Few leaves of mint 

Method

In a paraat, that is a big flat vessel which we use for making dough, empty the mix, add some oil, add only the required amount of wheat flour, salt as per taste, we will not be using water here, the only moisture will be from the ingredients. make a firm dough, rest it for about fifteen minutes, make equal sized balls, roll out thinly, roast with oil on both sides. They are ready to be served with any sauce, chutney or yogurt.  This picture shows you the beautifully coloured dough.

                   
                                                                    Egg Triple Green

One more from my experi-mental dishes. The grens in winter tempt you to try out dishes that could be tasty on the palate and also pleasing to the eye. This is one of those many spontaneous ones that you try. Some hit it off at the table and some flop. This was a hit at my table so sharing it. Here goes the recipe...

.Ingredients

6 eggs boiled, peeled and kept ready

For the gravy

3 onions finely chopped
3 green chillies, 1 inch ginger, 6 garlic cloves pounded coarsely in a mortar pestle
Salt as per taste
Some turmeric powder
2 tspns of garam masala
1 bunch of spinach, 1 bunch of fenugreek, 1 bunch of mustard leaves, cleaned finely chopped

Method

In a pan take some oil,  turmeric powder, add the onions. Saute till almost done, at this stage add the pounded ginger, garlic, chilli, saute now till done well, add all the greens and cook till soft, no adding water, let the greens cook in their own moisture, once completely done, you will see the oil separating, then add the eggs, salt, garam masala, mix well, cook covered for some time till you see the eggs turning into a very light golden. The dish is ready to be savoured with your favourite Indian breads like chapati, roti, nans or puris.

                                     
                                                       Batatyache Kaap / Potato Crisps

One of my favourite snack items. We eat it  this during fasts too. Tasty, crisp, satiating as a teatime snack. Ingredients used are normally available in a Maharashtrian kitchen. Here goes the recipe...

Ingredients

1)
4 large potatoes peeled and made into thin roundels, put them in salt water and keep for at least half an hour

2)
2 cups of sago pearl flour
Salt to taste
1 tspn of cumin powder
1 tspn of chilli powder
Mix all together and  keep ready

Method

Heat a pan, drain out water from the potatoes, coat each roundel with the flour mix, put them on the pan drizzled with clarified butter.  Flip and drizzle clarified butter on the second side too. Roast them till crisp on both sides. Best eaten as they are. They do not need any company.

Raw Tomato Chutney With A twist

 The  first picture shows you the chutney made of raw tomatoes and the second picture shows you the home grown mint, fun to use something that has grown in my tiny balcony. I have given the chutney a twist by using raw garlic and raw mint leaves which gave a distinct punch and flavour to it. This chutney is spicy, minty, nutty with a hint of sweetness. Enjoy the chutney rolled in rotis, spread on bread and an accompaniment in meals.

Ingredients
1)
4 raw tomatoes chopped into long pieces
3 green chillies
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup sesame seeds
Salt to taste

2)
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup grated jaggery

Method 

In a pan take some oil, add green chillies saute a bit, add the peanuts, sesame seeds, roast till they release an aroma, add the tomatoes salt to taste, cook till mushy. Transfer this to a mixi jar, add the garlic and mint, jaggery, now grind to a paste. Your chutney is ready.