Bread pizza bites...in a paddu pan!

Just woke up from my afternoon nap craving for pizza. Didn't want to order in and it was time for my boy's evening snack.. so came up with this super simple..throw-together recipe that's good on your taste buds!

What i used:

》3 slices of bread: edges removed and cut into quarters. 
》1 tsp frozen corn
》1/2 capsicum and 1/2 onion finely chopped
》garlic flakes, oregano and basil flakes
》 1 tsp pizza sauce
》 1 slice cheese cut into 12 equal portions
》12 black olive slices
》 about a tbsp of butter
And of course..a paddu pan!

I put a bit of butter in all the cavities in the pan and put it on hisg heat. Then smeared a bit of sauce on each of the 12 quarters of bread.

When the pan was ready..i places each of the quarters into the cavities and gave it about a minute while i prepared the filling.

The filling: mix the frozen corn, chopped capsicum and onion with the herbs and garlic flakes.

Divide the filling equally on all the slices.

Top each slice with a black /green olive and then a piece of rhe cheese slice.

Cover with a lid and keep on low flame for about 10 minutes.

The crispy cheesy pizza bites are ready to eat!!

Versatile Tomato Thokku (a tangy, mildly spicy tomato preserve)

I'm leaving for Mumbai tomorrow, for over a week. While emptying my fridge, staring at me was a bag full of beautiful organic tomatoes that my aunt had carried all the way from Madanpalli. Certainly didn't want them to rot away and they were too precious to be  given away.

My options: puree the tomatoes and freeze or make some kind of a preserve that can be refrigerated. The second option definitely seemed so much more appealing. Here's what I did:

Cut up all the tomatoes into quarters and pureed them. Didn't bother to sieve as I prefer a chunky thokku to a pasty one. Then in my chopper, whizzed a couple of large pods of garlic, some birds eye chillies and a piece of ginger. set this aside. About 5 tbsp of this ginger - garlic - green chilli mixture. You can use as much as you wish to, depending on how hot you want the thokku to be.

Other ingredients used:

- 2 tbsp rasam powder - i used this because it is much more flavourful compared to plain red chilli powder.
- 4 tbsp rock salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp amchoor / dry mango powder
- 1 tbsp fenugreek / methi seeds

1 cup oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp jeera
1/4 tsp hing

a few sprigs of curry leaves.


you can also add 2 tbsp of 'menthyada hittu'if you have it handy. It lends some flavour, some paste like body, bringing the thokku together. Totally optional, though.
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First heated the oil and allowed the mustard to splutter. Added jeera, hing, curry leaves and the Ginger-garlic-chilli mixture and allowed it to become slightly cooked.

Then, the puree, and all the powder masalas, salt and sugar. Mix well and allow it to simmer away (without lid) for at least 45 minutes.

The thokku will turn a reddish brown and will separate itself from the oil. At this stage, take it off the flame, and allow it to cool completely before transferring to a glass, air-tight jar.

When refrigerated, this should stay for a few months, if it's not polished off by then, that is!

Once I tasted it, I realised that that it is such a versatile thokku -
> can be used as an instant mix for tomato rice / bhath /
> as a base for tomato rasam - just add dal and water and boil /
> can be added to subzis for a kick of flavour
> can be added to poha, with onions to make tomato-kanda poha
> can be added along with other veggies while making upma / khara bhath

I love it with plain, hot, steamed rice. Yummm.

Do try it out

Bisi Bele Bhath (BBB)

My version is a quick fix meal. One pot. 30 minutes. Ready to eat.

So here's what I do - a meal (or probably 2 meals!) for a family of 3.

Chop whatever veggies you have handy. I had: beans, potatoes, carrots, onion, broad beans, and green pepper. Large chunks are preferred. 

Wash and soak 2 small cups of rice. If you're not a fan of white rice, you may use broken wheat (lapsi / Godi nuchchu) / millets (pearl millets / foxtail millets). Set aside for about 20 minutes or so, if you have this planned out. Else, if this is a last minute quick fix,  wash and use immediately. 

My Masala mix: I also use a ready mix sambar powder**. 1 Tbsp of this sambar powder mix. To this I add 1 tbsp of regular BBB powder, 1 tsp dhania powder, 1 tsp jeera powder, a small piece of jaggery, 1/4 tsp garam masala.

In the rice cooker, heat oil, add a tsp of mustard and let it splutter. Then add jeera, turmeric and asafoetida (hing). Then toss in all the chopped veggies, the washed rice, the masala mix and water*. At this point, you may also add a lot of chopped / whole curry leaves. And let it cook away.

Keep stirring in between so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the vessel. Just as it is getting ready, after about 25 minutes, when you see that the rice and the veggies are cooked well, add 1.5 tsp of tamaring paste and give it a good stir. Top it with coconut milk or dessicated fresh coconut.

 In about 30 minutes, your BBB will be ready to eat.

If using a pressure cooker, the same procedure applies, then allow it to cook for 3- 4 whilstles. In this case, add the tamarind paste after opening the cooker and cook for a few more minutes till it gets incorporated.  

A lot of people prefer adding the tadka after the BBB is ready. You may do that too. I find it tedious and it's not really a 'one-pot' dish if I have to use a tadka pan ;)


*The usual proportion of water for my sona masoori raw rice is 3 cups of water to 1 cup rice. For BBB, i usually add 2 -3 extra cups of water in the end. 
**If this is not available, replace with 1 cup of uncooked and soaked tur dal + an additional spoon of regular BBB powder. 

Accompaniments: You can make this tastier by including khara boondi / bombay mixture / Sandige (traditional south Indian fryums)/ fried Balaka chillies / papad / potato chips. Anything fried is a good accompaniment :). Also a raita - boondi / onion-tomato raita goes well with BBB. 

Overall: Tess than 1 tbsp oil. a good serving of veggies. A full meal in itself. Can easily subsitute rice with broken wheat / millets. 

Enjoy!

Walnut and flaxseed savory cookies

Today has been a particularly lazy and boring day. Though its just 11 am, I already feel live we've been through the day several times over. So breakfast was a fuss free onion and tomato upma.

Lunch has been planned and I dont feel like attending to any of my daily chores. So I decided to bake cookies and keep myself constructively occupied.  I didn't plan this one and neither did I follow a recipe. I just wanted to make something that the husband can eat without thinking twice.

So it means - no sugar, no maida, no ghee / butter. What's good for controlling bad cholesterol - walnuts,  flaxseeds, garlic. So I just tried a recipe and its turned out quite well. :) all measures are approximate. .as I just went about with this intuitively.

1.5 cups wholewheat flour
About 3/4 cup pure olive oil
2-3 tbsp flaxseeds - lightly toasted
A fistful of walnuts - lightly toasted
A generous sprinkling of ajwain
A pinch of garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
A generous sprinkling of roasted garlic flakes.
Salt to taste
A pinch each of baking soda and baking powder
A little milk to bring the dough together

Put the toasted walnuts and flaxseeds into a mixie and pulse till coarsely ground. Mix with all other ingredients and make a smooth dough.

Cover and let it rest while you preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Then roll out the dough into a thick sheet and cut it into any shape you like. Lay it neatly on a greased baking tray and nake at 180 degrees for about 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow it to cool and store in an airtight container.

Rava idli with Bombay Sagu

I'm not a huge fan of idlis. They're always a go to breakfast in most homes I know.  They are the preferred choice if you are ordering breakfast from outside, given the crazy number of darshinis around my home. They arr a saviour on days when you just don't want to cook. .but even on those days, I'd rather cook than eat idlis.

My husband and the kid totally <3 idlis. They can eat idlis all year long. Their love for idlis is somewhat like my love for noodles.  So I end up making idlis AT LEAST once a week an we always have a big dabba of batter in my fridge.  Just in case idli craving strikes at odd times.

Today, for a change, I decided to cook an elaborate breakfast. Complete with a fitting side dish. Rava idlis with Bombay sagu.

While the thought of ig seemed elaborate, it's pretty simple to make. And I prefer to take an easier way out.

The Rava idlis wete a no brainer as I used a ready mix and followed instructions on the pack. I prefer to add some salt, finely chopped green chillies and curry leaves to the ready mix. I like them spicy and so do the husband and kid. Steamed them in a pressure cooker on the 'idli' setting on my induction cooktop for exactly 12 minutes. After that, they need to rest for at least 5 more minutes before prying them off the idli plates.

The Bombay Sagu (potato and onion gravy) is also just as simple. I made enough for 4 adults with some to be eaten with lunch or dinner. Here's what I used:

4 large potatoes boiled, peeled and roughly mashed
4 large onions, thinly sliced into half moons
A fistful of boiled green gram (heserakalu) just because I had them handy. This is optional.
An inch long piece of ginger, julienned
Juice of 1 lime
A pinch of garam masala
Salt and sugar to taste
4 roughly chopped green chillies
For the tempering: a tsp of oil, mustard, ajwain, curry leaves, jeera and a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
A handful of finely chopped coriander

In a deep pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds.  Once the mustard is done with the crazy drama, add in other items mentioned to the tempering.  Add   chopped ginger, green chillies and onions and sauté till the onions turn pink annd start to wilt. Then add the mashed potatoes, boiled green gram, 1 cup of water, salt, sugar and garam masala.  Stir well and allow it to simmer for a few minutes on a low flame. Add the chopped coriander and lime juice and mix well.

If the sagu is too watery for your liking, here's a little trick. Mix a tsp of whole wheat flour in some water to make a thick paste. Add this to the simmering curry and stir well immediately.  Within a few minutes you'll notice the watery sagu turning into a deliciously thick gravy. OR add just enough water and not a whole green cup and resort to damage control later!!! :p

Serve hot idlis with a generous dollop of ghee and watch it melt. A bowl of hot sagu next to the idlis completes the picture.  Enjoy!!

Mixed veg akki rotti

Akki rotti (rice flour rotis patted down on a tawa and cooked) is a  regular item in our breakfast menu. And it is sooooo versatile.  You can have akki rotti with different combination of veggies every day for a whole week. The most common ones are with cooked avarekalu and dill. I usually make them with whatever is available in my fridge.

This one is with finely chopped capsicum , onion, grated knol khol and flaxseeds (yea..ever since the health scare, I've been using these magical seeds in almost everything)

Today's version had

1 grated knol khol
1 large onion and 1 small capsicum finely chopped
1 tbsp flaxseeds - toasted

Basic akki rotti recipe (to which you can add your choice of veggies)

2 cups fine rice flour (makes about 8-10 medium sized thin rottis)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Ajwain 

2-3 green chillies finely chopped

Salt to taste
Fresh dessicated coconut (optional)
Finely chopped fresh coriander and curry leaves.

Its quite simple actually. Put all ingredients, including veggies in a large mixing bowl and bring it together with your hands, adding water as you go. It should resemble a dry chapati dough.

I prefer to let the dough rest for at least 30 mins as this allows the juices of the veggies to mix well with the dough giving it extra flavour. You can make rottis immediately if you are in a hurry.

Since the dough tends to stick to your hands as you try to pat it down on a non stick tawa , I like to keep a bowl of water next to me.  I wet my hands thoroughly and then pat a medium sized ball of dough on the tawa to form a thin round rotti.  I like to make 5 (exactly 5!! Am weird that way. .a creature of habit) holes in the rotti and put little drops of oil into those holes. This also helps the rotti cook evenly. Each rotti needs a max of half tsp oil... and if you ate using a non stick tawa, you can just add a few drops of oil.

Then it goes on the stove on high flame covered with a glass lid so that you can keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't burn.  It may take about 3-4 minutes. And the top gets cooked by the steam , so there's no need to flip the rotti.

We like our rottis soft so we take them off the stove sooner.  If you like them crispy, leave them on high flame for a few more minutes.

Once done , smearvrge rottis with ghee (clarified butter) and serve hot with any of the chutneys. Other great accompaniments with this are: jaggery and clarified butter, chutney powder mixed in thick curd or any simple subzi made of leafy veggies. The most popular accompaniment is the brinjal yennagayi (spicy purply brinjals in oil).

Rice noodles - with an Italian twist

My 3 year old loves noodles. Just like his mom. Both of us can eat noodles 365 days. I love maggi but I dont trust it enough to give it to my son. So we have south Indian maggi - akki shavige / rice noodles. :) I've managed to convince him that this is the real maggi! :p

I know it won't be long before he figures that akki shavige and maggi are not the same thing...but till then, this is what he's going to get every time he asks for maggi.
A local brands of roasted akki shavige (anil) is what I use. They also have a ragi shavige which is a regular in my kid's snack box. And its so versatile. ..it goes with any flavor, seasoning or gravy. And takes 3-5 minutes to make.

Today the wanted to eat pasta (yea he's born to foodie parents!) And we'd run out of pasta at home. So akki shavige came to the rescue.  And one more trick..I boiled it in milk instead of water so he had his share of milk as well! You've got to be clever with kids.

1 cup milk
Salt to taste
Chilli flakes
Any veggies that you may want to add (I didn't add any)
A pinch of garam masala
Any herbs that you might want to add
1.5 cups roasted akki shavige
A blob of butter

Put milk in a pan, add salt and and other ingredients and allow to come to a boil. Then add the rice noodles and allow it to simmer. After a minute , turn off the stove, add butter and cover with a lid. Let it rest for a few minutes befor serving.

My son enjoys spicy food. You can omit the chilli flakes and garam masala if you wish.

Note that the liquid should just cover the noodles so that you get separate strings. If theres too much water, it'll just be sticky and will look like one large ball of something.  Not noodles, for sure.

You can add shredded spinach and corn or peas or geated carrot to this right in the beginning. 

My son loved the twist and wasnt sure if he was eating pasta or noodles! :) served the purpose for me!

What do your kids enjoy eating?

Mint tomato & Flaxseed chutney

One more to my list of coconut free chutneys.

2 tbsp dry roasted chana dal
1 handful mint leaves - roasted
3 small tomatoes - roughly cut
1 onion roughly cut and slightly sautéed
1 small sized ball of tamarind / 1 tsp tamarind paste
1/2 tsp sugar / jaggery
1 tbsp dry roasted flaxseeds
Salt to taste

Ghee, hing, mustard and curry leaves for tempering.

Put all the ingredients in a mixie and buzz it till It becomes a smooth paste.  Transfer into a bowl and add the tempering.
Can be had with dosas, idlis, chapati, and as a bread spread. Ek teer, kaee nishaan ;) One chutney, many uses!

Note : In my house most chutneys are made in batches and excess put in the fridge immediately.  They stay for up to a week. I dont add the tempering to the batch that goes into the fridge as I like the mustard seeds to be fresh and crunchy.

Ridge gourd and peanut chutney

Ridge gourd (Heerekayi in kannada) is usually unpopular.  I remember eating this mostly as a chutney or as part of a mixed veg sambar...never on its own. Now that I've started cooking, I quite enjoy the simple flavours of a home style ridge gourd palya or a dal. But I always go back to making this chutney whenever I have ridge in my fridge! :p

The best part about this chutney is that you can substitute whole ridge gourd with just the peel. Yea..really! So when you peel a ridge for dal or subzi , set aside the peel don't discard it. Use it to make this yummy crunchy chutney.

You will need:

--1 medium sized ridge gourd, roughly cut into large chunks OR 1 cup ridge gourd peels
1/2 cup peanuts
1 tsp seasame seeds
A thumb nail size bit of jaggery
Juice of half lemon
Salt to taste.

In a dry non stick pan, toast the peanuts and seasame seeds till they turn brown. Set aside to cool. In the same pan, saute the ridge gourd or just the peels till they become soft and start wilting. You can add a few grains of sugar at this stage so that the ridges retain their beautiful fresh green colour. 

Then put all ingredients into the mixie and blend well. When it comes to this chutney am a little moody. I like to blend it into a smooth paste at times..to go with hot rice. At other times, I like to pulse it with a dash of olive oil and it becomes a tasty bread spread. So, d o what you want to! Once blended, add the line juice.

If you'd like to try it with hot rice and ghee, I would suggest topping it off with some wonderfully fragrant 'vaghaar' or 'vaggarane' (seasoning) of mustard, whole curry leaves and hing.

Enjoy!

Home style veggie tawa pizza

Ever since the husband has been put in the high risk category for heart problems, I've been trying to cook meals that not only appeal to his peculiar taste buds but also do his health some good. So last night, instead of making the same old dry phulkas and subzi, I made pizzas. :)

The dough: this is entirely an experiment that I didn't regret. With some pointers from Gordon Ramsay in his show on TLC, I just did my own thing.

1 tsp Active dry yeast in about 2tbsp luke warm water with sugar. Leave it  alone while mixing the dough. 1 cup regular chapatti atta (my atta also has flaxseed, 1 tbsp roasted fine semolina and methi meal mixed in it), 2tsp olive oil, salt to taste. Knead into a soft sticky dough, adding water as you need.

By this time the Yeast should be activated. .frothy and bubbly. Just incorporate it into tge doygh..lightly. Then, smear your hands with oil and roll the dough aroubd coating it lightly with oil. Grease a container and place the oiled ball of dough in it. Cover tightly with cling film and tuck it away into a warm spot for about 2 hours allowing it to rise.  I warmed my oven and let it sit in the oven for 2 whole hours.

Toppings: I used whatever I had in my fridge. Luck was on my side as I'd replenished my stock of herbs and vegetables just that morning.  So I used a tomato pasta sauce as the base sauce. Red and yellow bell peppers, shallots, spring onion greens, black olives, and lemon basil. The idea was to have a thin crust and load it with toppings. I also used mixed spice, tabasco sauce and chilli flakes for heat.

When the dough was fluffy and rwady, I didn't bothet to knead it a second time. Just brushed my regular chapatti tawa with oil, pulled a ball of dough into a thin round base, poked it several times with a fork and loaded the toppings. 

The trick is to put it on high heat for a few minutes till the base starts cooking.  Then reduce the flame, cover with a glass lid and let it cook for approximately 10 minutes. .or until the toppings are tender and the base crisp and golden. :) just before serving, I drizzled abput a tsp if cold pressed flaxseed oil and roasted garlic flakes for an extra punch. Yummmmmm.. they were so light that we had sbout 3 pizzas each!

My pizzas were the size of small phulkas and loaded with veggies with very little oil and no cheese. So I didn't feel guilty after polishing off 2 pizzas all by myself. :)

I was so busy experimenting that I took just one picture. ..here it is. This one was for my brother... The only one who can afford to eat cheese snd is struggling to put ob weight!

Sweet avocado

Avocado a.k.a Butter fruit has slowky and steadily made its way into my fridge andvis now a regular there.

My fav way to eat this insanely creamy fruit is also one of my favourite post lunch go-to desserts. 

Cut open the avocado, remove the pit, scoop the cream into a bowl. Add 1-2 tsp of sugar and blend well with a fork / whisk. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two.  And then just dig in! Its yummmmmy.

I make this after breakfast and eat it after lunch.  Though loaded with goodness. .. it isn't the best fruit for weight watchers. :(

Onion chutney

The husband is currently on a very strict diey and has been told to avoid anything with coconut.

The thing is we are South Indians and chutneys are an important part of all our favourite recipes. This is a big challenge for me..to make chutneys without one of the core ingredients. ..coconut. I made this onion chutney and it turned out quite well.  So I have it on my list and here's the recipe

This is enough to mage a big bowl of chutney

3 large onions cut into quarters. .
2 tbsp bengal gram dhal, dry roasted
3-4 Fresh green or dry red chillies
1 tsp tamarind pulp
1/4 tsp jaggery
Salt to taste
Mustard, asafoetida (hing) and curry leaves for seasoning

Take a non stick pan  and with a few drops of oil, sauté the onions until they turn pink. Then roast the chana dal. Once they have have cooled, pit all ingredients into the mixer an d blend well with just enough water. Then heat a vaghaar pan, add 1 tsp oil, mustard.  Once the mustard crackles and settles down, add curry leaves and hing and turn off thw heat. Pour this fragrant seasoning over tje chutney and mix well to incorporate.

This tastes great with dosas and idlys. I used aome leftover chutney as a bread spread and it worked well. :) so go ahead and try it out!

This chutney tastes good for when thick. I dont like it thin and runny.

Hearty pumpkin soup

After watching Matt Preston's simple pumpkin soup on Masterchef Australia last night, I knew I had to make it. pumpkin happens to be my new favorite veggie, knocking cauliflower and potatoes off the list. I <3 the simple south Indian red pumpkin subzi. And to that I addthink buttermilk to make a yummy raita. And the usual sambar.

 But that's about how far I had gone with using the pumpkin in my food. This pumpkin soup gave me purpose.. More variety. I didn't follow the recipe shared by Matt Preston..I just did my own thing. And it turned out wonderfully fragrant, think, creamy and so delicious. 

Here's what I did

I had 1 whole red pumpkin (about 700 gms) and decided to use the entire thing. 

5 cloves of garlic

2 large onions

1 small potato

1 large carrot.. This is just for colour and of course the goodness..I somehow don't like the yellow of the pumpkin.

A generous sprinkling of cinnamon powder

A pinch of royal garam masala

Salt to taste

olive oil

maharashtrian garlic chutney powder as a relish..just before eating

As Matt Preston suggested, I cut up all the veggies into large chunks and placed them on my baking tray. Drizzled olive oil, sprinkled cinnamon powder, garam masala and salt and tossed well to incorporate the masalas. 

I put it into a 170 degree oven for 45 mins. Here I had a bit of a problem. I had cut the pumpkin into very large and thick slices so they were still raw at the end of 45 minutes. I decided to go with the slow / pressure cooker method that am most comfortable with.

 So I tossed all the beautifully cooked, slightly brown veggies with 3 small cups of water into a cooker. I dont have a gas connection so most of the cooking is on my induction cooktop. Set it on 'pressure cook' mode at 1000 degrees for 3 whistles.  With every whistle, the aroma filled the house and I was becoming more and more impatient. I just had to eat it! 

Once I opened the cooker, I hurriedly peeled the skin off the HOT pumpkin chunks, juggling them between both hands and blowing desperately to cool them. Yes.. I do get hopelessly impatient when it comes to tasting new food. :p 

Put the veggies under a fan to cool them, tossed them into my mixie and whiiirrrrrrrrrrr. The soup was ready. Thick and a beautiful light orange. I Quickly served it in a bowl, added a few pieces of paneer and a teaspoon full of the garlic chutney powder ( I love anything garlicky also. you can gladly omit this) 

Oh yummmm. Heaven. Polished off 2 bowls of the soup and am craving for more. 

The next time I make it, I will oven bake only the onions to get that beautiful, slightly burnt, sweet flavor going. All the other veggies will go straight into the pressure cooker. 

Gulpaote (gul- pao-tay)

This has been a favourite ever since I can remember eating sweets. And I like the one my grandmother makes.. none of the other versions even come close.  So this time, when she visited us, I got her to teach me how to make it. And its so simple. Took less than 20 minutes in all!

You need

1 measure fine sooji
1 measure dessicated fresh coconut
3/4 to 1 measure powdered jaggery (depending on how sweet you like it)
A little milk (to moisten sooji)
Ghee 1 cup

Heat ghee in a non stick pan. Add rooji and roast till it turns golden brown. Take it off the flame and det aside to cool.

Then heat jaggery ober a low flame, stirring constantly. Once it turns into a syrup, check for any impurities and strain if necessary.  While still on the flame, add the dessicated coconut to thw jaggwry syrup and allow it to cook in the syrup for a few minutes. 

In the meanwhile, thw sooji should have cooled down.  Add about 2 tbsp of milk (at room temperature) to the sooji and mix well. Allow it to rest for a max. Of 5 minutes.  By this time the coconut and jaggery mixture should have turned a beautiful golden brown and wonderfully fragrant. Add the moistend sooji to it and keep stirring to avoid any lumps.

Let it sit on a low flame, remembering to stir all the while, till the sooji soaks up all the jaggery and coconut syrup. Once done, it will start leaving the sides of the pan.  Take it off the heat, top it with a generous amount of ghee, mix well and let ut cool.

You can then made small laddoos or scoop it into a bowl and enjoy it.

Note:
1. I prefer using a deep nonstick kadhai as it tends to get messy.
2. You may add dry fruits and cardamom if you like it. I like the plain version the best.

If you tried it...tell me how it turned out!

Maalpua!!

Easy recipe + simple everyday ingredients + desperate craving is what pushed me to making this.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1 cup maida
1 cup khoya
5-6 tbsp desi ghee (for frying the maalpuas)
warm water (to make the batter)

Make a thick sugar syrup by boiling the sugar in little water. keep stirring continuously and keep aside.

Add water to the maida and make a thick batter. Grate / powder the khoya and mix well with warm water to make a slightly thin batter. Mix both the batters and keep aside for about 15 minutes.

Heat the ghee in a deep vessel on low flame. Put scoops of batter in the ghee and fry till they turn golden brown on both sides.

Remove the golden maalpuas and strain the excess oil. Put them into the sugar syrup.

Place them on a plate and garnish with pistachios, almond and saffron. Serve hot!

Credits: Chef Marut Sikka for the simple recipe.
http://cooks.ndtv.com/listrecipesbyanc.asp?chef=Marut%20Sikka&pg=recipes

Chat Evening!

Bored of the regular fare of rice, rasam, rotis and subzi, Mom and I decided to cook up something different for dinner. And since all of us were craving for some street-style chats, chat it had to be! On the menu was Papdi chat and Pani puri.

We bought some puris for the pani puri, and papdis, thin (nylon) sev, chat masala and kala namak (black salt) from the local farsan store. Maa always has a stock of frozen green chutney and the marwadi sweet chutney which just has to be thawed and sufficient amount of water added.

Recipes for both the chutneys in my next post. Some pics for now :)

Boiled moong sprouts to make the snack healthier. This along with boiled potatoes 

(mixed with salt and chat masala was the filling for the pani puri and topping for the papdi chat)

Green chutney mixed with water and kala namak for the 'pani'

Papdi's neatly laid out on a plate with the boiled alu topping 

Now add the moong sprouts, finely chopped raw onions and a dash of green chutney 

Topping it with just a bit of meetha chutney

And finally the Sev!

The chat stall is all ready and loooksss soooo welcoming!

Kadhi (the kinds you eat with Dal khichadi)

This was for lunch yesterday..to satisfy one of my random cravings. And it got done in 5 minutes..not exaggerating.

Ingredients (for 2 people):
- Besan 2 tbsp
- curd or buttermilk 1 cup
- water 2 cups
- ginger & green chilli paste
- Dhania-jeera powder 1 tsp
- Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
- salt and sugar to taste
- Oil, mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves for seasoning

Mix the besan and curd together and ensure there are no knots. Add the water and mix well. Heat oil in a pan and prepare the seasoning. Add the ginger and green chilli paste and sauté for a minute. Add the besan+curd+water mixutre to it. Then add the DJ and RC powder, salt and sugar. Keep stirring. Switch off after 2 boils and serve steaming hot.

Bhakarwadi

One of my favourite snacks...typically Maharashtrian and a great blend of flavours.

Some random cookery show on a Kannada channel showed the recipe last afternoon. The list of ingredients that goes into the stuffing is endless! And by the time I could make note, they moved on to a new recipe :(

So much for being ambitious and wanted to try making the wadis at home. Am going to stick to the expert-made ones available in Prashant.

Layered Krackjack Pudding

I remember first eating this when i was about 3 or 4 years old made by one aunt of mine. Then Amma used to make it quite often. After 22 years, for the first time, I tried it and it turned out just the way I've always known it to be :D Thanks Maa for the Telephonic support!!!! (bear hug)

What you need:
- 1 litre of fresh milk
- 4 tbsp custard powder (vanilla flavour)
- 6-8 tbsp sugar
- 2 packets krackjack biscuits. You can use any biscuits you like!
- A deep bowl for setting the pudding
- a refrigerator
and of course hungry people who are watching you make it and can't wait to eat it!!! :D


In a bowl, add 4 tbsp custard powder, sugar and add enough milk to make it into a thin paste. Ensure that there are no lumps. Boil 1 litre of milk in a deep vessel and as the milk starts to boil, add the custard-sugar-milk paste (acc. to my mom's instructions: pour the mixture into the boiling milk with your left hand while continuously stirring the milk with your right to ensure that it gets mixed well and there are no lumps.) Then bring to a boil, still continuing to stir. Set the custard to cool. Once completely cooled, take a deep dry bowl and pour a 1 inch layer of custard as the base layer. The arrange whole biscuits on the first layer of custard. the continue to alternate with layers of custard and biscuits. Ensure that the final, topmost layer has custard (I don't know why, but this is as per instructions in krackjack-pudding-expert mom).

Keep the bowl in the freezer for exactly 10 minutes and then move it into the refrigerator till it sets completely. You can garnish with dry fruits / cherries or powdered biscuit / jam / cream...just about anything you like.

Serve (small portions) cold. Small portions just so that it doesn't get polished off instantly and you can slyly have a midnight helping when no one else is watching ;)

Carrot Halwa

Yes...i gave in to my craving and indulged in some delicious piping hot carrot halwa. It took me about half an hour to make it and less than 5 minutes to finish off what I'd made!! :D Try it out..it's much simpler than you think.

Ingredients

• 1 kg carrots - peeled and grated
• Milk - just enough to cook the carrots in
• 2.5 cups of sugar (Again, you may decide the quantity depending on how sweet you'd like it to be)
• 2 tsp ghee
• Cashews and raisins

Pressure cook the grated carrots in the milk for 3 whistles. Transfer the cooked carrots into a deep vessel, add sugar and keep stirring continuously till the sugar melts and any additional milk is absorbed by the carrots. The halwal should become thick. Roast the cashews and raisins in ghee and use it as garnish.

Then, buy a tub of vanilla ice cream and treat yourself to some steaming hot halwa with vanilla ice cream! :)