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! :)

Yummy food am craving for

Some things that have been on my 'Dying to Eat' list for a while now

- Carrot Halwa (have made up my mind to make this at home tonight but the one I ate in a dhaba in Haryana is the best Carrot halwa I've ever tasted!0

- Bisi Bele Bath made by dear mother-in-law
- Chilli Cheese Toast (as chilli-ee as it can get!)
- Poha Samosa - something I've eaten at only one place in Bombay.
- Rajma Chawal
- Hakka Noodles the way mom makes it
- Cauliflower Subzi with Aloo, Tomato and Green Peas. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
- KrackJack Pudding
- Sattii made Pasta with his special sauce
- Baingan ka bhartha
- Sweet Potato Chat (a Delhi speciality)
- Delicious stuffed paranthas from Paranthe wali gali or that dhaba in Haryana where they add in heaps of butter with every paratha!
- Garlic Pickle
- Thick creamy curd with sugar
- Mixed Dal curry
- Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc Etc :D

Drumstick Gravy - a variation

Tried this last night. It was different from the usual one because we'd run out of onions at home!

What I used:
- 3 Drumsticks cut into 1 inch long pieces
- 2 Potatoes diced into 1 inch cubes
- 2 or 3 Tomatoes
- grated coconut 1 cup
- 1 tsp rasam powder
- an inch of ginger
- Jaggery
- Salt to taste
- Seasoning

Pressure cook the drumsticks and potatoes for 4-5 minutes. In the meanwhile grind together the tomatoes, grated coconut, rasam powder, jaggery and ginger and keep aside. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and prepare the seasoning (mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves and a pinch of hing). Add the tomato paste and the cooked drumsticks and potatoes, salt to taste and mix well. Bring to 1 or 2 boils and serve hot with rice or rotis.

Gongura Dal

Gongura (Sorrel leaves) comes in two varieties, green stemmed leaf and red stemmed. The red stemmed variety is more sour than the green stemmed variety. Gongura is popular in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a very rich source of Iron, vitamins, folic acid and anti-oxidants and is highly recommended for diabetes and heart patients to maintain their diet.

Last night I tried a hybrid version of the Gongura Pappu (dal) with my grand mom's recipe. The quantities used here make a dal that serves 6 people. Adjust quantities according to the number of people you are making it for.

- Gongura leaves 3 cups (chopped and thoroughly cleaned)
- 1.5 small cups chana dal and 1/2 cup toor dal (soaked in hot water for 30 mins before cooking)
- 3 slit green chillies
- 2 tomatoes (finely chopped)
- 3 onions (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp sambhar powder
- Seasoning (mustard, jeera, turmeric, curry leaves)
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt to taste

Pressure cook the soaked dal and gongura leaves with a little salt for 5-8 minutes, drain out all the water and set aside. In the meanwhile, heat oil in a deep pan, add the mustard seeds. once it stops spluttering, add jeera, haldi and the slit green chillies. Saute the onions till they turn transparent. Then add the chopped tomatoes and allow to cook for a while. Once completely cooked, add the gongura dal and mix well. Add the red chilli powder, sambhar powder, some more salt, sugar and mix well. Bring to a boil and cover it with a lid to trap the flavours.As it is a thick dal, can be had with phulkas / rotis or even hot rice.

Thanks for the recipe ajji!!!

Drumstick Gravy (Nuggekayi Gojju)

This one's from Deepti's family. Again simple, quick and easy to make.What also helps is that Drumsticks are a great source of Iron and the tender ones are especially succulent.

Ingredients:

4 Tender drumsticks cut into inch long pieces and pressure cooked
3 Thinly sliced onions
2 tsp Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup grated fresh coconut
1 small cup Tamarind water (soak tamarind in a cup of water and squeeze till the ater becomes a thick sauce. Dispose the tamarind)
1 inch cube of Jaggery
Curry leaves
Seasoning (jeera, mustard seeds and hing)
Salt to taste

Heat about 2 tsp oil in a deep pan and add mustard seeds. Once they stop crackling, add jeera, hing and turmeric powder. Add the sliced onions and saute till cooked. In the meanwhile you cna grind together the grated coconut and red chilli powder to make a chutney. Once the onions are cooked, add the red chilli powder chutney to it. Add tamarind water, jaggery cooked drumsticks and curry leaves. bring it to a boil and keep stirring continuously. Add salt to taste and mix well.

This goes well with both phulkas and rice.

What I've cooked since last week

- Palak Paneer (home made Paneer :D)
- Chana sprouts curry
- Carrot / Onion Parantha
- Drumstick curry
- Aloo Matar

And tonight's special: Gulaab Jamoon!!!! :D

Recipes for each of the above will follow.

Cucumber - Mint juice

Desperate for something cold and tasty on a hot summer afternoon?! Try this:

- 4 large, tender cucumbers, diced and de-seeded
- A cup of mint leaves (thoroughly cleaned)
- Jaljeera powder - 3 tsp
- 1 green chilli
- 1/2 an inch of Ginger
- Salt to taste

Blend all the ingredients together in a juicer. Strain and serve with ice cubes.