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! :)

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.