Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Podi/ bhajo's

Paagil podi (pic 1) cauliflower bhajo (pic 2)









Leave it to 'Amchi's' to take something healthy and deep fry and relish it like it's the best thing in the world....but hey, I'm not complaining....I am equally guilty of having a nostalgic fondness towards podi's and bhajo's with dalithoy. Yum!

Bhajo's batter is made using besan,rice flour, chilli powder, hing and salt.Usually made out of cauliflower, potato,onion.

Podi's that uses the masala mentioned below are made of kadi ( raw jackfruit), Pagil( kantola), Goint( parwal), karathe(bitter gourd, Mashingasang (drumsticks).

For the podi guli:
Rice- 1 Cups, soaked in water for 2-3 hrs
Red chillies – 20
Hing – 1/4 tsp
salt
Grind all these ingredients into a coarse thick paste with minimal water and apply this to the the choice of your vegetable. Deep fry the goodies and enjoy with dalithoy and rice.

Friday, March 26, 2010

5 min choc cake


Ingredients:
4 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp choc chips (any kind)
1 tsp vanilla
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
i pinch salt
1 egg
5 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil

Mix all the ingredients together in a coffee mug. Microwaave on high for 3 mins. Cool for a minute. Sare and enjoy!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

berry ice cream



Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup strawberries
lime juice out of 1 lime
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream

Method:
In a medium sauce pan over low heat cook berries, sugar, lime zest & juice of 1 lime stirring occasionally, until berries begin to burst. Remove from heat and add strawberries,  mash a few berries leaving a few intact.



Cool the sweetened berries to room temperature add heavy cream * extract then churn in the ice cream maker till it thickens (about 25 mins).


Pour into a plastic tub (with airtight lid), line with wax paper & secure with lid. Freeze 2 hrs for a softee treat or 4+ hrs for tight scooped ice cream.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Madgane


















Ingredients
1 cup bengal gram /chana dal
15 cashews
1 cup grated jaggery
1 cup coconut
2 tbsp rice, soaked in water
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Pressure cook dal and cashew nut, just cooked till soft.
Grind coconut with rice to a smooth paste and use a sieve to strain and get milk.
In a heavy bottomed pot, add cooked dal, jaggery, cardamom powder and coconut milk. Bring to a boil over moderate heat. Serve hot.

Amrakhand



















Ingredients:
2 Cup of yogurt
1 Cup Mango pulp
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 tbsp Everest milk masala (* see below)
a big pinch of saffron strands
1/2 Cup Pistachios, coarsely chopped
10 almonds, crushed
1/2 tsp elaichi powder

Method:
Place the yogurt in a colader thas has been double lined with cheese cloth. Refrigerate covered, overnight. Place a plate under the colander to catch the drips .
Add the sugar, mango pulp, elaichi powder, Everest milk masala, saffron, pista and almond to the thick yogurt. Garnish with saffron, pista and almond. Serve chilled with poori.

* Everest brand sells a kesar milk (powder) that has dried nuts ( coarsely crushed)in them that is added to warm milk for the saffron flavoured doodh. It can be used for flavouring kheer as well.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Happy Ugadi!



















Clockwise:- starting from happla kismuri ( 6 O'clock), vodi, taushe sasam, dalithoy, chane ghashi made with the same masala as tori ghashi, nelkadle upkari, madgane, amrakhand with rice.

Happla kismuri












Ingredients:
Red Chillies Pappad/ Happol - 5
Onions,finely chopped - 1
Green Chillies - 3 finely chopped
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Coconut oil - 2 tsp
Cilantro, few stems, chopped
Salt

Method:
Roast the Pappad on high flame, apply oil. Crush green chillies in grated coconut add this to chopped onions, cilantro and salt. Hand crush the pappad and mix it with coconut onion mixture. Serve immediately.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Chane upkari ani phov

This is one of the breakfast eats which is done at most Konkani get-together's yet is not liked very much if done at home. It is considered very thoughtless of the host if at all it is served to any guest...no idea why! With last minute guest visiting all the time, sometimes it is inevitable to fix this breakfast up. I love this all the more now that I'm away from my home and it is a rare breakfast eats for us over here. A very simple non complicated breakfast.


















CHANE UPKARI
Ingredients:
brown skinned chana – 1cup
Mustard seeds – 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Red chillies 3, cut in half
Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
Oil – 1 tbsp

Method:
Soak chana for 4-6hrs.
Pressure cook the chana till soft and tender.
Heat oil in a kadai, for seasoning and splutter mustard seeds,red chillies and curry leaves. Now add the cooked chana and salt. Bring it to a good boil. Garnish with coconut. Serve with Phov.

PHOV
Ingredients:
Thin poha 2 cups
coconut 1 cup
jaggrey 1/4 cup, grated
Jeera 1/4 tsp
coriander seeds 1/4 tsp
red chillies 4-8
mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
oil 1tsp

heat oil and roast red chillies, jeera and coriander seeds.
Crush the roasted spice with jaggrey, salt and coconut with a mortar and pestle. Add this coconut-spice mixture till the masala incorporates with poha. Make a seasoning with oil, mustard seeds,red chillies and curry leaves and add this to mixed poha.
This poha in a konkaniites home is served with one or more of the following:-banana, upma, chana upkari, chivda.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Nelkadle upkari


















This dish is the recipe shared by one of a great cook, Shyamala Kini who posts wonderful pics on a group "Konkani Amchi Food" on FB. Something so simple, yet, delicious and a new found dish made from the common ingredient....the peanuts.
So, my inspiration source of this dish is S akka.

Ingredients:
Peanuts 2cups,
mustard seeds
red chillies
curry leaves
salt

Method:
Peanuts need to be soaked in water for 4-6 hrs. Pressure cook.
heat oil and season with mustard seeds, red chillies and curry leaves. Add cooked peanuts and salt and bring it ot one boil. Serve as a side.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Upma





















The upma served here with tea, bhusa mixture and parle-G, just the way my babies love it.

Ingredients:
Rava 2 cups
mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
urad dal 1/4 tsp
green chillies 4, slit
curry leaves 1 sprig
water 4 cups
ghee 3tbsp
cocnut 4tbsp
sugar 3 tbsp
salt

Method:

Boil the water and keep aside.
Heat ghee in a kadai and season with mustard, urad dal, green chillies, curry leaves.
Add rava and roast on low flame till the rava has a toasted aroma. Add salt and sugar mix well and take off flame. Pour the 4 cups of boiling water, coconut and mix well. cover and and cook on low flame for 15 mins which will completely cook the rava and doubles up in volume. Stir to mix up all the seasoning that settled on top of the upma. Serve it with poha, bhusa mixture, chivda or as is.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Malai kofta



















This one's one of the first recipe I tried from Sanjeev Kapoors collection (print out saved from 2002). I don't know if his recipe has changed over the yrs, I never felt the need to check since I think dish has been approved by my family long ago and that's all that matters.

Ingredients for kofta's:
boiled potatoes, 2 medium
paneer, crumbled, 1 cup
raisins 20
cashew nuts 1/4 cup
corn flour 1/4 cup
bread crumbs, 1/2 cup
red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
finely chopped green chillies 6
finely chopped cilantro
salt

For the gravy:
Onions 2-3
green chillies 4-6
garlic paste 1tbs
ginger paste 1tbs
milk powder/ mawa 1/2 cup
fresh cream 1/2 cup
turmeric 1tsp
coriander powder 1tsp
garam masala 1tsp
red chilli powder 1 tsp
tomato puree 1/2 cup
cashewnuts abt 10
oil + salt

Part 1: Peel and mash the boiled potatoes, add all the ingredients listed in the kofta section. Mix well, form elongated rolls (this makes about 20)and deep fry. Set aside.
Part 2: Boil the onions (I pressure cook without any liquid in the vessel containing onions). Separately soak cashew nut in warm water for about 20 minutes and make a paste along with boiled onions. cool.
Part 3: Heat oil in a kadai, add boiled onion paste ( a very high chance of spluttering and blistering is expected here)and stir the paste so it reduces the water content. Add ginger garlic paste and stir for a few minutes before adding spices to remove any pungency from garlic. Add tomato puree and all the spice powder and saute for a few minutes.
Part 4: Dissolve milk powder in 1 1/2 cups of water and add to gravy. Bring it to boil and simmer for 5 mins. Finish with fresh cream and cilantro.
Add kofta's on hot gravy just before serving. Serve with ghee rice or roti's.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Arvi chatpata



Ingredients
Arvi roots-boiled like poatoes, peeled, cubed,
Oil- 1 tbsp
mustard seeds-1/4 tsp
curry leaves- 1 sprig
turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Jeera-1/2 tsp, crushed
Dhaniya powder- 1/4 tsp
chaat masala- 1/4 tsp
salt

Heat oil in a kadai and all the above ingredients listed above and saute lightly to crisp the arvi chunks.

Shrimp 65


Ingredients:

For the marinade:
3 lbs Shrimp
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp pepper powder
1 tsp ginger & garlic paste
1 tbsp lime juice
1 egg
salt

cooking oil for deep frying

For seasoning:
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
6-8 Italian peppers
4 green chillies, slit
2sprig curry leaves
3 tbsp chilli garlic sauce (I used Ching's secret)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp schezwan sauce
Salt to taste
5-6 stems spring onions

Method:
Marinated the shrimp and set aside for about an hr.
Heat oil for frying the shrimp and fry them to medium rare without overcrowding the oil.
Heat oil in a kadai/wok and add seasoning ingredients one at a time in the above order, sauteing for a few minutes before adding the next ingredient.Toss fried shrimp to coat well. Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve as an appetizer.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Vaingana/gulla sagle



Ingredients:
Gulla/thai green eggplants 12-15
Coconut -1 cup
Red chillies 6-8
Tamarind paste 1/2 tsp
methi seeds 1/2 tsp
Coriander seeds 2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

prep:
Slit egglpants into 4 from the bottom keeping the stem intact.

Grind together the coconut, red chillies,methi seeds, coriander seeds, salt and tamarind to a coarse paste. Spoon this paste in the cut slits of eggplants. Set aside.

Heat oil in a flat heavy bottomed pan and season with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add the stuffed eggplants and let it sizzle in the seasoning, turning the eggplants as it roasts on medium heat. After roasting for a few minutes, add the rest of the ground masala, if any and cover and cook for about 10 minutes to cook completely on low heat. Do not stir the dish too much which may break the eggplants. Serve hot as a side dish along with rice.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Pomfret fry



Pomfrets cut up into 1 inch
red chilli powder
 tamarind,
 turmeric
 hing
 salt.

 All the ingredients are just a eyeball measurement.

Mix well and chill in the refrigerator for a couple hours.
Coat the fish in dry mix using 1 tbsp of rice flour, salt and red chilli powder and set aside.
Shallow fry on medium hot skillet using about a tsp of oil around the edges of each peice.