Life is hectic and tiring these days with my 4-month old. The time passes by very fast, which leaves me hardly any time for the blog :((. But when he smiles, all the tiredness, all the fatigue goes away in an instant. Every morning I wake up thinking that today I am going to post at least a new recipe. I even make drafts but cannot fine tune them. Anyways enough with time problems, finally, I have one easy and quick recipe if you plan a little ahead.
Handvo is very popular Gujarati snack. It looks beautiful and tastes great, but basically it is lentil flour cake, which also smells very nice. It is perfect with tea, coffee, or cold drink. It is easy recipe for picnics or long trips. It stays in fridge for around a week. It is usually made with bottle gourd but could be substituted with squash. I used spinach and pigeon peas for a little more flavor. Traditionally, Handva flour is prepared with many types of lentils which are grounded and mixed, but in modern times, it is flour is readily available in Indian stores.
1. In large bowl, mix handvo flour, yogurt, grated bottle gourd and water. Leave overnight to ferment.
2. Add green chili-ginger paste, turmeric, salt, sugar, dhania-jeera powder, penuts, pigeon peas, spinach, red chili powder and 1/4 cup water leave for 2-3 hours.
3. Preheat oven on 375 F.
4. In the mixture, add Eno and then add lemon juice so that it covers the Eno. Let it bubble and mix well lightly clockwise (in one direction).
5. Grease deep baking dish and pour handvo mix. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
6. Heat oil in small pan, add mustard seeds and curry leaves.
7. Give tadka on top. And bake for 40-45 minutes.
8. Serve with tea, coffee, cold drinks, pickle or with any meal as a side dish.
Enjoy...
Tip: Please keep in mind if you have extra water, it will be okay but less water would be bad since handvo will end up dry.
Khaman is most popular Gujarati snack. Gujjus can't imagine Gujarati thali without Khaman as a side dish. One popular misunderstanding is khaman dhokla is one in the same thing, but it isn't. Main difference is Dhokla is made out of rice and urad daal, while Khaman is usually made of Chana Daal or Chana Daal flour. There are many varieties in Khaman but main two types are: Nylon Khaman and Vati Dal Khaman.
Nylone khaman is made with besan (Chick Pea flour)and is made instantly. Vati Dal Khaman is made with Chana dal, and it takes a litte more time to cook. Nylon khaman is mostly popular in North Gujarat, and Vati Dal Khaman is more popular in South-Gujarat. This recipe is taken from Surti version of Vati Dal Khaman, hence the name.
Ingredients:-
3 cups Chana Dal
4-5 tbsp Besan
1 cup Yogurt
2 cups Water
3 tbsp Green Chilli-Ginger paste
4-5 Garlic Cloves, grated
4-5 tbsp Sugar
1-1/2 tsp Eno Fruit Salt
3 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Cilantro, chopped
-- For Tadka
3 tbsp Oil 1 tsp Mustard Seeds 1-2 Whole green Chilli Pinch of salt
Method:-
1. Soak Chana Dal in water for 12 hours.
2. Soak besan and yogurt mix for 5-6 hours.
3. Grind soaked chana dal coarsely.
4. Mix coarsely-ground chana dal with besan and yogurt mix. Add green chilli paste, oil, salt, sugar, and garlic.
5. Leave this mixture in the sun for 7-8 hours for fermentation.
6. Take steamer and boil water on high.
7. Grease containers.
8. Add Eno and mix well.
9. Pour batter into the containers.
10. Steam Khaman for 20 minutes without pressure.
11. Open steamer after 10 minutes and let it cool for 3-4 minutes.
12. Cut khaman into squares.
-- For Tadka
1. Heat oil in pan.
2. Add mustard seeds, When they crackle,add green chilli and pinch of salt.
3. Give tadks to the khaman.
4. Sprinkle chopped cilantro and Serve with chutney and sev.
This is my mom's one of the best recipe. She won first prize for this one in a side dish competition. This is a spicy corn dish. The inspiration for this was dry corn chevda available in market. As much as I love dry corn chevda, it is a little unhealthy because fried dried corn flakes. I use white corn but one can use sweet yellow corn as well. With sweet corn, there is no need for sugar. I think white corn gives it it better taste though.
Highlights of this dish are Sev and Milk. The milk make this side dish smooth, creamy, and helps it to cook fast. Sev helps in turning down heat from chevdo.
Ingredients:-
6 Fresh White Corn, grated
3 Medium potato, grated
4 tbsp Green Garlic, chopped
2 tbsp Ginger-Chilli Paste
1/4 tsp Sugar(Optional)
1 cup Milk
5-6 tbsp Oil
1/4 Mustard Seeds
Pinch of Turmeric
Salt to taste
Sev
Lemon Wedge
Cilatro, chopped
Method:-
1. Heat oil, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add grated potatoes.
2. Cover pan with lid and let the potatoes cook for 3-4 minutes on mediun heat.
This is simple, tasty, and healthy dal recipe. It is high in vitamin c (tomato) , protein (lentil), and fiber(spinach) from this dal. This item is very good for the pregnant women. I used cherry tomatoes, which infuses the unique sweetness to the dal. I grilled cherry tomatoes a little for serving. It is a simple thing but will look very trendy and will add more a little more flavor to the dal.
Ingredients:-
1 cup Moong Dal 2 cups Spinach, chopped 1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes, chopped plus extra for grilling. 1/4 tsp Turmeric 1/4 tsp Asafetida 1 tsp Red Chili Powder 1/2 Ginger-Garlic Paste 1/2 tsp lemon Juice Salt to taste Cilantro, chopped
-- For Tadka
2 tbsp oil 1/2 Mustard Seeds 3-4 Curry leaves 2 Dry Whole Red Chilli Pinch of Asafetida
Method:-
1. Cook moong dal in 2 cups of water with spinach, and tomatoes in pressure cook.
2. Whisk lightly after cooked.
2. In cooked dal, add more water and all the other ingredients.
3. Boil for 4-5 minutes.
-- For Tadka
1. Heat oil, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add curry leaves.
2. Turn down the heat. Now add whole red chili and pinch of Asafetida.
3. Pour tadka in the dal.
3. Sprinkle chopped cilantro and serve piping hot.
Serving Tip :-
1. Heat little oil in flat pan and grill halves of cheery tomatoes. Serve this tomatoes on top of the dal for more exotic look and flavor.
First of all, I have news to share with all of you. I and my DH blessed with baby boy last month.. This will explain my prolonged absence from blog world. I hope to resume to active duty with this new blog entry. So lets us get to it right away.
This is healthy and flavor-full paratha recipe, however the taste is very different from regular paratha. The Green and Pigeon peas together make it a unique in texture, color, and taste. The texture is very soft, the color is green with tinge of regular parathas.
Ingredients:-
2 cups Wheat Flour
1 cup Pigeon Peas, boiled
1/2 cup Green Peas, boiled
1/4 cup Cilantro and Mint
3-4 Green Chilli
1 Small peace of Ginger
1 tbsp Dhania-Jeera Powder
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Pinch of Asotida
Salt to taste
Method:-
1. Mix Pigeon peas, green peas, cilantro, mint, ginger, green chilli, dhania-jeera powder, asefotida, salt and lemon juice in blender to make it a puree.
2. Mix all the ingredients into the large bowl.
3. Knead the soft dough using little water. Keep aside for 1 hour.
4. Make lemon-sized balls from the dough.
5. Roll them with rolling pin.
6. Heat non stick skillet on medium-high heat.
7. Cook paratha on hot non-stick skillet.
8. Flip the thepla after one side is cooked a little bit, apply little oil on it.
9. Then flip to the other side and apply little more oil on that side, cook both sides until cooked.
Enjoy...
Tip: Use cooking spray to control the amount of oil which goes into it.
Recently I was cooking potato in microwave and experienced that red potatoes are easy to cook this way than any other type of potato because of less starch content. One another very good quality about red potato is that they hold their shape very well after they are cooked. Being from South Gujarat, I grew up eating "Matla Undhiyu." Matla Undhiyu has host of ingredients, some of which are very hard to find here in US. So I thought of this recipe which will suffice my craving for Matla Undhiyu without some of the ingredients. This is very quick and easy recipe and can be served as snack in the afternoon or side dish for any meal.
Ingredients:-
7-8 Baby Red Potato
3-4 Garlic Cloves
1 Small Piece of Ginger
1/4 tsp Ajwain
1-1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Dhania-Jeera Powder
1 tsp Kasuri Methi
1 tsp Chat Masala
Pinch of Hing
3 tbsp Oil
2-3 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste
Method:-
1. Wash potatoes and let them dry.
2. Pierce the potatoes 2-3 times with fork.
3. Place bowl of water in the middle of the microwave.
4. Arrange all the potatoes around the bowl on the microwave plate. If you have microwave without glass plate, place the bowl of water in a microwave-safe serving plate and potatoes around it.
5. Cook the potatoes for 5-6 minutes or until they are soft and cooked.
6. Cut the potatoes into halves.
7. In the mean time, blend all the other ingredients into the smooth paste using little water or oil.
8. Heat oil in microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds.
9. Mix paste into the oil and heat for 30-40 seconds.
10. Stir and add potatoes into the bowl and cook 2-3 minutes.
11. Mix one more time and serve hot with lemon wage.
Pizza Bianca is thin crusted pizza dough with herb, sea salt, and cheese. It is usually served as an appetizer or a side dish. Italians loves pizza bianca with their sea-food stew. It's perfect with any kind of soup as well. This is semi-home made, since I bought the pizza-dough from store. It saves a lot of time for parties.
Ingredients:-
Pizza Dough, store bought
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
3 tbsp Parmesan Cheese, grated
3 tbsp Cheddar Cheese, grated
Method:-
1. Preheat oven on 450 degree F.
2. Roll out the dough on flat floured surface to thin crust.
3, Transfer dough to the cookie sheet. Pierce the dough all over with fork.
4. Apply olive oil, salt, and Herbs De Provence.
5. Sprinkle Parmesan and cheddar cheese on top of pizza.
6. Bake until it's golden.
7. Serve with your favorite soup.
Enjoy...
-- p.s.: Here are some of the soups that I tried with it.
I love to try different side dishes. I love all kind of raitas, pickles, and salads, and this carrot raita is one of my favorite along with cucumber raita. This is my family's favorite too since my mom used to make it many times in the winter months. It tastes very well with most subjis, but according to me, It goes along perfectly with Kadhi-Rice and/or with Khaman.
This particular recipe has a perfect balance of sweet and sour. The sweetness of Carrot very nicely balances sourness from yogurt and tomato. The roasted chana/daliya gives it a wonderful smoky flavor.
Ingredients:-
3 Carrots, grated
1 Small Tomato, finally chopped
3 tbsp Daliya/Spit Roasted Chana
1/2 cup Yogurt
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 Small Green Chilli, chopped
Cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste
Method:-
1. Roast daliya in pan until little golden brown. Keep aside and let it cool completely.
2. After cooling daliya, grind them coarse.
3. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning.
The pulav is usually made without Tadka. I tried to twist it a little without too many spice or ingredients. This is very light Pulav recipe. It is a combination of Jeera Rice and Pulav. This is the best way to use leftover rice, and its very different taste wise.
Ingredients:-
3 cups Rice, boiled
2 Shallots, thinly sliced
1 cup Mix Vegetables, boiled (Corn, Peas, Carrot, Green Beans etc)
3 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp Ginger, grated
2 Green Chillies, chopped
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Dhania- Jeera powder
2 Cloves
1 Bay Leaf
2 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Ghee
Cilantro and Mint, chopped
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
Salt to taste
Method:-
1. Heat oil and ghee in the pan. Add cloves, bay leaf and roast them for minute.
2. Add cumin seeds. When they start to brown, add shallots, garlic, ginger, green chilli, vegetables, and salt.
3. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add boiled rice and mix well. Cover pan with lid and cook for another 3-4 minutes on medium-low heat.
5. Add lemon juice, cilantro and mint. Mix well.
6. Serve hot with raita, dal or kadhi.
Enjoy...
My Dear friend Uma passed me this beautiful award. I am really happy to recieve this award. Thank you sa much Uma :))
The award states that-These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement (? big word, lol). Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.
Spring rolls were served in spring festival in China for the first time. These were vegetarian; and meat was added much later. Vegetarians can use oyster sauce made with mushrooms to have the meaty taste. Spring rolls can be savory or sweet. They are mostly deep fried until crispy and golden brown.
I love fried spring rolls but baked can be as much tasty and crispy, and to top it off they are healthy. I marinated vegetables with seasoning for 1 hour. This will control salt and oil, because stir-frying of vegetables won't be needed after that. To make it more healthy, shallow fry these rolls in pan until they crisp per you need. Shallow fried rolls, for just 1-2 minutes on each side, can be frozen for use afterwards. Don't forget to cool them down completely before freezing.
Ingredients:-
2 Carrots, grated
1 Oz cellophane noodles
1/2 cup Bean Sprouts
3 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Ginger, grated
1 cup Cabbage, grated
3 Scallions, finely chopped
1 big Red Bell pepper, thinly Julian cut
1/8 cup Mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Black Pepper, ground
1/2 tsp Red pepper Flakes
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Hot Schezuan Sauce
1 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
2 tbsp Oil
2 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp Mint, chopped
12-15 Spring Roll Wrappers
Salt to taste
Method:-
1. In a large bowl, marinate carrot, cabbage, red bell pepper, mushroom, salt, scallions, soy sauce, schezuan sauce, sugar and oil for 1 hour.
2. Place the noodles in a bowl of boiling water and cover it. Let it stand for 4 minutes.
3. Drain noodles and then rinse them in cold water. Cut the noodles into 2-inch lengths.
4. Back to the marinated vegetables, squeeze access liquid from the vegetables.
5. Add noodles, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, cilantro, mint, and rice wine vinegar to the vegetables. Mix well, taste and adjust seasoning.
6. Preheat oven on 350 F.
7. Spread the spring roll wrappers on the flat surface diagonally.
8. Place spoonful of the filling onto the bottom corner of the wrapper.
9. Fold the wrapper from bottom corner towards the top corner. Halfway through the fold, wrap the side corners on the wrapped portion. Continue to roll until it is completely wrapped in to a cylindrical shape.
10. Seal the roll with cold water.
11. Brush rolls with oil on top and place them into the baking tray.
12. Bake them at 350F for about 30 minutes or until they are crispy and golden brown. Make sure to flip the spring rolls halfway through baking.
Its been three months since I asked to you guys to celebrate with me "The Childeren's Day Event." Thank you all for a good response to this event. I should have posted this round-up much earlier. I have gone on to explain reasons for not being regular blogger in past three months, so won't go in details again. Lets just say, there were some unavoidable personal circumstances.
Actually, I started this round-up on 14th Feb, and I think its only appropriate because of connection between 14th Feb and 14th Nov. wink, wink :) Without further ado, lets get to round-up as I received some mouth-watering recipes which made me feel like a kid again:
Vella Payaru is a completely new recipe for me but its unique in its own way because of combination of black eyed beans and jaggery and I haven't heard jaggery being used with beans before. I'd love to try this some time.
I am not a vegan myself and actually enjoy food made out of milk or milk products, but this vegan cookie makes me think, it must be nice to be vegan as well. Cookies look beautiful and tasty. This is also second tasty entry from Priya.
Paneer Roll from Purva reminds me of Paneer Kati Kabab, a very popular item in Artesia, California's Gujju restaurants. I can see kids drooling over these paneer rolls after their playing time in the evening.
The second entry from Purva comes in a form of Creamy strawberry and apple drizzle, which looks very tasty and a perfect dish for kids of any age. A great sweet and sour combination.
I have to admit, I have never heard of Apple Paneer toast. Looks like a great Indian reply to the French Toast. Chandni, invite me to enjoy this with you!!!!
This is my favorite Utrayan (Kite-Flying Day) snack/sweet. Gopi, thanks for reminding me of all the terrace activities from that day. A sort of classic item for which kids wait for days preceeding Utrayan.
Once again a recipe for the cookies which makes me crave for a glass of milk to dip the cookie and enjoy. I am sure sooji makes this cookies extra crisp, just the way I like it. I am sure to try this.
This is a great twist to a hearty, tasty chololate drink. It also very easy to make and not time consuming at all. I have made chocolate drinks before but never thought combining it with banana. Looks very good, Uma!
This is the third colorful entry from Uma. The cupcakes look wonderful. I feel if the lady from the following ad followed your recipe, she would have got it right the first time without using Pam!!! :)
This is one more chocolate cake which is eggless, which is very healthy and a good choice for vegans. You also don't have to worry about cholesterol!!!A Great Entry!!!
Second entry from Divya.This fruit cake looks delicious, and scrumptious. This is the must try recipe. I am practically your neighbor now, let's meet up sometime with this cake :))
Last but not the least, this apple fritters (bhajjis) look yummy. In Gujarat, they have this banana fritters but I have never heard or think of making fritters with apple and this looks equally tasty.
To sum it up, I have to admit these recipes are very creative. I had as much great time reading these as you guys must had making them. We now have wonderful and different collections of these great dishes that kids, small and big alike, would just love. I'll post the ones which I try later!! A good event for all. Thank you for participating!!!!!
How are you guys doing ? I am doing good finally. Finally, We are all set at new place, finally....We had some friends over for holidays, we had a loads of fun, so I could not post new recipes or round up for the event (Yes!!! I haven't forgot about it!!!) To make things worse, setting up internet connection also took long time, like a month. But now, I am back. I know I missed all the action and great posts, will try to keep up with that in next few days.
This recipe was ready, so I thought this would be a good warm up before I post Children's Day round up. So Let's get straight to it.
Mughlai cuisine is famous for the combination of ground masalas and unique texture of food. This cuisine is home to rich dishes like, hundred kinds of Pulavs, Kormas, tonnes of Paneer dishes, variety of Naans, and add all tasty meats like chicken, mutton, lamb, fish etc., you get one great collection. The gravy is heavy most of the time because use of dry fruits, ghee, butter and heavy cream. These ingredients give them a silky smooth texture.
This is very common and popular subji, Paneer Pasanda. I tweked a little to make it healthy. I used evaporated milk instead of heavy cream and use rajma beans for valvery texture. One would really enjoy this with naan and/or with steaming-hot jeera rice.
Ingredients:-
1-1/2 Cup Paneer, cubed
1 Big Red Onion, finely chopped
2 Tomatoes, finely chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp Ginger, grated
2 tbsp Cashew soak for 2-3 hours and make paste
1 tbsp Melon Seeds, soak for 2-3 hours and make paste
1-1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp Dhania-Jeera Powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1 Cinnamon Stick
2 Dry Whole Red Chili
3 Green Cardamoms
3 Whole Cloves
2-3 bay Leaves
1 tsp Fennel Seeds
2 tbsp Ghee
3 tbsp Oil
1/4 cup Evaporated Milk
1/2 cup Rajma, canned and drained
1/2 tsp Kasuri Methi
Cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste
Method:-
1. Heat oil and ghee in deep vessel. Add cinnamon stick, whole red chili, cloves, cardamom, and bay leaves.
2. Roast them for 1-2 minutes and put on paper towel, leaving ghee and oil for cooking.
3. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add ginger, tomato, cashew paste, melon seeds paste, salt, fennel seeds, dhania-jeera powder, red chili powder, turmeric, and 3-4 tbsp water.
4. Mix well. Cover with lid and cook on medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until onions are tender.
5. Add rajma to the gravy and let it heat for 2 more minutes. Now turn down the flame and let it cool for 3-4 minutes.
6. In the mean time heat little oil in wok and cook paneer cubes until golden brown. Set them aside on paper towel.
7. Blend the gravy until smooth.
8. Add some water for gravy consistency.
9. Put gravy on low heat. Add dry masalas and paneer. Cook for 5-6 more minutes.
10. Add evaporated milk and kasuri methi. Mix well. Heat for 2-3 minutes.
