Banana Chips | Kela ni wafer | Khadkhadiya | Low oil banana chips

This is my childhood favorite!! I also love how musical the name sounds "khadkhadiya"!! Probably you know about how me and my mom share the OCD of not letting kids eat outside food. Hence this was a one off treat for us. Though mom sometimes made potato and banana chips at home but cutting thin slices for chips using regular knife was a big pain.
But recently my friend M told me how they make these banana chips at home and then I decided to make it at home. Thankfully this time I had my trusty food processor to help me in cutting thin slices hence now it has become much more easier!! Alternatively you can use potato peeler to get really thin slices. I use it sometimes while making these chips in small quantity!!
Sometimes when we are in mood to eat healthy, rather than deep frying it, I make it in microwave. You can't tell the difference!! My only problem with microwaving is that it takes a lot of time..

Plantain Chips | Banana Chips | Khadkhadiya | Low oil chips

Low oil Microwaved banana chips / Plantain chips

Ingredients:
Raw banana (Plantains)
Oil for deep frying (if deep frying)
Oil for greasing the microwave proof plate (if microwaving)
Salt to taste
Pepper

Method for deep frying:
1) Peel the plantains. Then cut them into really thin slices. Use food processor or regular potato peeler for it.
2) Heat the oil for deep frying on high.
3) Once the oil gets heated, turn the heat to low and deep fry the chips till golden brown in colour.
4) Take out on tissue paper so that extra oil drains.
5) Now sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!!

Method for microwaving:
1) Peel the plantains. Then cut them into really thin slices. Use food processor or regular potato peeler for it.
2) Grease a microwave proof plate, and spread the thinly cut banana slices on it. Brush a little oil on chips too. Make sure that you don't put one chip on another one for really crispy ones.
3) Now microwave on high for 2 to 3 minute. This time may vary depending on size of chips and type of oven. Keep an eye on them while microwaving otherwise they may get burnt.
4) Now sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!!

Yeah, that easy and yummy!! Of course nobody can have only one!!

Plantain Chips | Banana Chips | Khadkhadiya | Low oil chips

Low oil Microwaved banana chips / Plantain chips

+techie ZM 

Puda | Indian Crepe | Gujarati food

Last week I was in Ahmedabad and I had amazing time eating mom ke haath ka khana :)
I came back yesterday and there weren't any veggies at home but I wanted to eat something healthy after a week of overeating :)
And these Pudas came in handy....These too are made of my favorite handva no lot AKA Kanki kormu!! Don't worry if you don't have it. Read on to get an alternative to it.. Needless to say they are yummy and healthy at the same time!!
Today I had only onions on hand but you can also add any other vegetable you fancy. I often add methi (fenugreek) and grated carrots to the pudas!! The methi pudas featured in my Aathela Marcha (Pickled Pepper post)
Check them out..

Puda | Indian Crepes

Puda | Indian Crepes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Handva no lot (in case you don't have handva no lot handy, you can mix besan (Garbanzo beans flour), rice flour and whole wheat flour to make pudas. Or you can soak the lentils and rice overnight and grind them together next day in a mixer to get batter, in this case reduce the curd to 1 Tablespoon)

1/4 cup curd

1 teaspoon green chili, ginger and garlic paste

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 pinch hing (Asofoetida)

salt to taste

1 small onion

1/4 cup cleaned, chopped and washed fenugreek (optional) or 1/4 cup grated carrot (optional)

 teaspoon oil

Method:

1) In a mixing bowl, take all the dry ingredients and vegetables. Mix them well.

2) Now add, vet ingredients and mix well. Add water to get a pancake/ dosa like batter. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Sometimes I let it rest for 2-3 hours too, if I have time.

3) Heat a tawa (skillet), grease it with 3-4 drops of oil.

4) Using a ladle pour batter on the tava. Spread it evenly to get circular shape.

5) Let it cook on one side for 30 seconds on medium flame.

6) Using a spatula, flip it. Apply oil on sides.

7) Let it cook on another side for 30 seconds on medium flame.

Puda | Indian Crepes

Take it off the tava and eat with green chutney, pickle, curd or ketchup!!
+techie ZM 

Vedmi | Vedhmi | Vedhami | Puran Poli | Gali Rotli | Birthday Celebration..

My mom always used to make Vedhami for my birthday along with patra or batakavada, kadhi and bhindi!! As with everything the vedhami stuffing or puran was made in truckload!! Now that I make it myself, I wonder how mom could stand in front of gas stirring the stuffing continuously for almost 2 hours!! Things moms do for us!!
Yesterday was my birthday, and mom being far away I decided to make vedhami for myself as my birthday treat!!
And incidentally this month my food blog too turns one!! Though I don't exactly remember the date of creation of my blog,  I've bad memory, but I remember it was somewhere around my birthday as my first post on this blog is dated 23rd January, 2013!!
It has been a great year of learning and sharing!! Food blogging has opened a huge world of cuisine for me!! Along with so many new dishes I've also learned to be open about food choices of others!! I've realized that while my version of Undhiyu is authentic for me, similarly others may think of their version as authentic and it is fine!!
During this one year of food blogging I met a lot of amazing blogger and non blogger friends!! So many of you left comments to encourage me, some of you tried out my recipes!! I still get excited every time I see a new comment and see that someone has tried my recipe!!! Thanks a lot for all your love and support!!
And it was apt to celebrate all the love and learning with my favorite Vedhmi!!
In Gujarat it is made using toor daal (split pigeon peas). I have also come across similar dish in Maharashtra, Andhra and Karnataka where it is called Puran poli, Bobattalu and Obattu respectively!! Though it is different in a way that Chana daal is used to make it.
So here is my favorite Vedhami recipe...The measurements are all eye balled as I made it just like my mom - andaje !!

Vedhmi | Puran Poli

Ingredients

For stuffing:
1 Cup Toor daal (Split pigenon pea)
1 Cup sugar (adjust according to your taste)
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder (Ilaichi powder)
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg powder (Jaiphal powder)

For Dough:
1 Cup wheat flour
1/4 cup oil (or as much oil as needed to get the basic binding in the flour)
water to knead the dough

Method:

1) Pressure cook toor daal.
2) Beat the dall using a beater (or valoni, ravoi) and add sugar.
3) Transfer the daal and sugar mixture in a thick bottomed and wide mouthed pan. I usually do it in my pressure pan.
4) Keep cooking it on low to medium flame. Keep stirring it continuously. If you leave
it, it may get burnt and not taste nice.
5) Once all the water evaporates and the mixture becomes stiff turn the gas off. You can perform a test to decide if it is stiff enough. If a spoon stands erect in the mixture without falling down then it's stiff enough. Add the cardamom and nutmeg powder and mix well..
6) Let the stuffing (Puran) cool.
7) In a mixing bowl mix the wheat flour and oil and knead roti like dough.
8) Now take a lemon sized ball of dough and roll the roti.
9) Take a lemon sized ball of puran (stuffing) and put it in the center of the rolled roti.
10) Cover the puran (stuffing) with the roti and make a ball like you do for stuffed paratha.
11) Roll it as thin as possible without tearing it.
12) Cook on a hot tawa (skillet) on both sides like you cook paratha. apply oil on both sides and cook till brown specks appear on both sides.
13) Cool and generously apply melted ghee (clarified butter).

Serve with melted ghee. Heaven!!

Vedhmi | Puran Poli

Vedhmi | Puran Poli

This post is part of Blogathon 2014.

Aathela Marcha | Athela Marcha| Pickled Pepper

This again is a winter special at home..A favorite at home!! Mom would ensure that we had a continuous supply of these hot and tangy aathela marcha!!
Every winter meal would see us consuming considerable amount of the pickled pepper along with pickled fresh turmeric and ginger!! And these pickle go amazingly well with methi na thepla (a Gujarati fenugreek flatbread)!! Actually thepla and aathela marcha is a match made in foodie heaven!!
But these flirtatious pickle also gels well with parathas and bhakharis!! And they are perfectly capable of jazzing up any regular meal!! And the fact that they don't require a lot of your time is a bonus!!
Today my breakfast was these Pickled pepper with Puda!! Yummy!!

Ingredients:
12 long (& big) green pepper (chili) - Here we are not using the regular hot chili but the milder and little bigger variety
Juice of 3 big lemons
5 tablespoon Mustard seeds (rai/sarson daana)
2 teaspoon salt

Method:
1) Wash and clean the pepper (green chili).
2) Now, slit it lengthwise and remove the seeds, using edge of the knife. Try not to use your hands directly to remove the seeds.

3) In a mixer jar, take mustard seeds and run it for 30 seconds. We don't want to powder the mustard seeds. The idea is to get broken mustard seeds (methi na kuria). My mom doesn't use the mixer. She uses mortar and pastel to get the broken mustard seeds. But be warned, this way it takes longer.

4) Now in a GLASS bowl (or jar), take the broken mustard seeds, add salt and lemon juice. Mix well.

5) Take a prepared pepper and fill the mustard seeds, salt and lemon juice mixture in it. Repeat this for all the peppers.
6) Now put all your peppers in the same GLASS bowl (or jar) and mix well using a clean spoon.

7) Cover it loosely and let it sit on the kitchen counter. Everyday mix it with a clean spoon and by 3rd day you should get your pickled pepper ready!!

Note:
1) Depending on temperature the pickle may take more or less time.
2) Keep watching your pickle everyday, when the color lightens a little, you know that your pickle is ready. The raw taste and smell too will go once the pickle is ready.
3) Once ready, finish it off in 2-3 days or store in an airtight container in refrigerator.

This post is part of Blogathon 2014.

+techie ZM 

Sev Khamani / Ameeri Khamani

If i like Vaati Daal na khaman then i loooooooooooove Sev Khamani. Of course khamni from daas na khaman is all time favorite....

I craved for Khamani in Pregnancy and made mom carry Khamni (apart from other goodies) from Ahmedabad to Hyderabad when she visited us ;) Yes i love it that much!!!!

So after 3 trials and few calls to mom, i could make the perfect Sev khamani at home :)
This is also known as Ameeri Khamani as it is rich in oil!!!

Sev Khamani - It was yummm.....

Ingredients:

1 Cup Chana Daal (Split Bengal gram)
1 tablespoon sour curd
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon Green chili ginger paste
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 pinch of hing

For Tadka:
5 Tablespoon Oil
1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon Sesame seeds
1 pinch Hing
5-6 garlic pods (crushed/grated or finely cut)
4 Teaspoon Sugar for mixing
Dhania patta for garnishing
1 fistful of Pomegranate seeds
2 cups of fine Sev (Nylon Sev/ Salted Agra Sev) - In absence of fine sev you can use other sev also

Method:

1) Wash and Soak the chana daal for 3-4 hours and crush to a coarse paste.
2) Add sour curd, mix well. Cover and keep in a warm place for fermentation for around 8 hours.
3) Once fermented add, salt, green chili-ginger paste, soda, turmeric powder and hing.
4) Then steam in a big pateela to get khaman.
5) Once steamed, take out and cool. Then crumble it thoroughly.

Khaman being crumbled...

6) Now put a pan on medium flame. Add oil.
7) In that add mustard seeds. Once they crackle, add Sesame seeds, hing and garlic.
8) Ensure that the garlic doesn't turn brown.
9) To this add the crumbled khaman. Add sugar and mix well...
10) Cook on medium flame for 5-7 minutes, continuously stirring.
11) Garnish with Pomegranate seeds and dhania patta.

And enjoy :) Hey Anamika, this one is for you....

The Last Bite

Oh and you see the last few bits of khamni on the spoon?!? I saw it too and planned to eat it after clicking, but it turned out, hubby too had seen it and was faster than me in reaching for the spoon!!!! Not Fair, i know.....

Notes:
1) On internet i found other way of making khamani. where rather than steaming the batter and making khaman, you can directly give it a tadka. But i didn't feel much confident about that method. Hence i decided to stick with this method :) If you feel comfortable about it then you can skip steps 4 and 5 and directly give tadka to the khaman batter. But please ensure that it is properly cooked and also doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
2) As you saw in the pic, i didn't have the Fine sev, i used the regular sev, that too worked all right. But if you can manage to lay your hands on fine sev then please, use that, highly recommended...
3) You can adjust the sugar and garlic as per your liking.
4) Because you are ultimately crumbling the khaman, it's not needed to add soda while steaming.

+techie ZM 

Pav Bhaji | Pao Bhaji | Bhaji Pav | Bhaji Pao | Indian Street food

Hubby and I love Pao Bhaji, and almost everybody i know relishes this :) So when we shifted to Hyderabad, we were hit by Pao-Bhaji crisis...as we couldn't find any place that served Pao Bhaji the way we like it (Amdavadi style)....

So i had to learn to make it. Though i knew the theory as i had seen my mom make it many times, i never tried my hands on practical. It was the first time in hyderabad, i made Bhaji-Pao. My mom and MIL both makes it in almost similar way. But my mom sometimes tends to sneak in veggies(Bringal) that otherwise we wouldn't eat. Yes, you can do that too ;)

And once we shifted to Noida, i started baking Pao also as the Pao here are a bit too sweet for our taste..So i make Bhaji pao from scratch!!!

Bhaji with homemade Pao...

Here is the recipe of Bhaji:

Ingredients:

4 Medium sized onions (Finely cut)

4 Medium sized tomatoes (Finely cut)

2 small capsicum (Finely cut)

1 small Cauliflower - washed, cleaned and florets cut

1/2 small Cabbage -washed, cleaned and Shredded

1/2 Cup Peas

4 Big Potatoes - washed, cleaned and cut in big chunks

1 teaspoon Ginger Garlic paste

Salt to taste

2 Teaspoon Bhajipao masala

1 teaspoon Garam masala

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

pinch of turmeric (If you want red colour then you can skip this)

1/4 cup oil (you can take more or less as per your liking)

2 Tablespoon of butter

1 medium sized onion (finely cut) for garnishing

Pao (you can bake your own or buy)

Method:

1) Boil Potatoes, Peas, Cauliflower and cabbage together in pressure cooker.

2) Meanwhile in a big pan take oil, add onions and ginger garlic paste and saute on medium flame till they turn a little brown.

3) Now add Capsicum to the pan and saute till it gets cooked.

4) Now add tomatoes to that, keep mixing till tomatoes are cooked and squishy.

5) Add Red chili powder, turmeric, Garam masala and bhaji pao masala.

6) Mix well and keep cooking on medium flame for 5 minutes or till oil separates.

7) By this time your veggies will be boiled. So take them out and remove the stock. (Store stock in a separate vessel, you can use it to adjust consistency of Bhaji)

8) Crush the veggies nicely using a potato crusher. No vegetable should be seen separately (except for few peas)

9) Add these crushed veggies to the pan along with the stored water, mix well and let it simmer on low flame for 20-30 minutes.

10) Add the butter & raw onion and serve hot along with Pao/Paratha/Bread, finely cut oninons and lemon wedges.

I personally prefer to add onions and lemon juice to the Bhaji before i eat but hubby likes it only with onions, ditto for Zini...

Notes:

1) In place of oil you can use butter to cook the bhaji. You can aslo add a chunk of butter in the cooked bhaji. More taste but more calories - Take your pick...

2) You can also add halved Kajus, for that fry them along with onions.

3) If you like cheese then you can make cheese bhaji by sprinkling grated cheese on the top.

4) To reiterate, if you like the colour red then skip turmeric.

+techie ZM 

Punjabi Chhole /Kaabuli Chane

My hubby is mad about them. Anytime you ask him what does he want to eat, he will say Chhole!!! No, he doesn't consider the fact that you can't make them instantly....And he is very particular about the colour of the Chhole!!!

In initial days of marriage i called up MIL and asked her the recipe of chole, she forgot to tell me one ingredient that is used for colour hence i used to produce Choles with different colour and he always used to drive me nuts saying "yeh colour kuch alag hai" :roll: Finally i called up MIL to complain about her Ladla and his fixation about the colour, it was then she enlightened me about the "secret" ingredient!!!

What is that secret ingredient you may ask...well, it is our plain,old, humble Tea water!!!!

So finally, i could make the perfectly coloured Chhole using tea water and of course they tasted great...

Once we had a friend visiting us and i made Chhole and he liked them very much, so he asked me the recipe...Before i could answer hubby chipped in by saying it's the "Tea" that makes all the difference!!! and you should add Tea to chhole to make them tasty!!! Now the friend too got all enthu at finding the secret ingredient and said he will ask his mom to put tea leaves in the Chhole!!!!

Finally i had to intervene to tell him that you don't add tea leaves but the tea water to chhole!!! Imagine, chhole with tea leaves in it!?!?!

So presenting the Chhole with a secret ingredient ;)

Chhole Puri

Ingredients:

3 Cups Chhole soaked overnight (If you want to make it for dinner than, you can soak them in the early morning :) )

3 medium sized Onions finely cut

3 medium sized tomatoes finely cut

2 teaspoon ginger garlic green chili paste

4 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 teaspoon Chhole masala

1/4 teaspoon red chili powder

1/4 teaspoon chaat masala

1/4 teaspoon Aamchur powder (Dry mango powder)

Salt to taste

2 teabags or 2 teaspoon tea leaves

Method:

1) If using tea leaves then, take water in a pan add tea leaves and boil them on high flame for 3 minutes

2) Once you see the water darkening, drain it using a Channi.

3) Add this water to chhole soaked overnight. If using tea bags then directly add bags to the chhole, add water, salt and pressure cook them till they are cooked.

Pressure cooked chhole

4) Meanwhile, in a mixer add onions and tomatoes and crush them to get a coarse paste, add a little water if needed. I use hand mixy to do this.

5) In a pan, take oil and add the onion tomato paste and green chili ginger garlic paste.

Onion Tomato paste before cooking[/caption]

6) Saute till oil separates on medium flame. May take upto 15-20 mins.

Onion Tomato paste after cooking

 7) Now, take the pressure cooked Chhole in a plate, mash them a little, and add red chili powder, garam masala, chaat masala, chhole masala and aamchur powder to the plate.

Masaala added to the pressure cooked chhole

8) Add this chhle-masala mixture to the pan (with onion tomato paste)

10) Mix everything nicely and mash chhole further. Cook on medium flame for 5 minutes or till you see oil separating.

After adding the masala wala chhole to the pan

11) Now add this mixture to the pressure cooked chhole, keep the consistency a little thinner than what you want as it will get thicker later on. Oh and don't forget to take out the tea bags if you used them :)

12) Cook on low flame covered for 20-30 minutes.

13) Garnish with finely cut onions and serve with Bhature/Puris/ Parathas/Kulcha.

I prefer to add finely cut onions and lemon juice/imli chuntey to it, but hubby prefers it with onions.

Notes:

1) No, i didn't forget to add turmeric to the list. If you want the dark colour for your chhole then don't add turmeric to it.

2) You can skip tea water, it's basically for colour.

3) If you don't have aamchur powder then you can use anaar daana powder or even more chaat masala in place of that. Aamchur powder is basically used for adding tangy taste.

4) Try adding imli chutney or tomato ketchup to chhole, my FIL showed this way of eating to me and i love my chhole this way :)

+techie ZM

Winter Special - Sarson ka Saag with Makki Roti

This is North India's favorite food during Winters. Made of Mustard greens, this saag is rich in vitamins and minerals and also calories (due to butter and ghee)..... Traditionally eaten with Makki ki roti, this saag is sure to bring food induced Nirvana to any Punjabi (except my hubby though, who is more of a gujarati than Punjabi ;))....And after Bollywood endorsing this dish big time, everybody in India is curious about it.

My in-laws won't mind having this for lunch and then for dinner and then for breakfast and if still something is left then for lunch again!!!!! Well, to their defense i must add that the dish is tasty, i too enjoy it (though not for every consecutive meal :))

Again i understand (though i am not very sure) that it is made differently in different households. I make it the way my MIL makes it, with a little time saving modification. So here is the recipe....

Ingredients:

For Sarson Ka Saag

Mustard Greens (Sarson Leaves) - 2 big bunches

Spinach - 1 bunch (you can add Bathua leaves also, though i don't add it)

2 tablespoon of makki ka aata - Corn Meal (Different then regular corn flour used in soups)

5 Big Onions - Finely cut

2 Green chilies - Finely cut

10 garlic pods (yes 10!!) - Peeled and finely cut

1 inch ginger - peeled and finely cut

1 teaspoon garam masala

4 Tablespoon Oil

Salt to taste

3 tablespoon Butter or Ghee (I use fresh homemade white butter)

For Makki Roti

1 Cup Makki Aata - Corn meal (Different then regular corn flour used in soups)

salt to taste

water to knead the dough

Method:

1) Clean the Mustard greens.

How you do it is very important. 1st you take leaves along with tender stems. After that you have 2 options, either you throw away the bigger stems or you peel them and cut finely and use it. I go for the 2nd option as that way the taste improves, but it takes a hell lot of time to peel the stems. If you are strapped for time then you can go for option 1.

2) Clean the Spinach leaves. Mix them with Mustard greens and wash properly 4-5 times or till you feel they are clean.

3) Then after adding water to the leaves, pressure cook the leaves for 4-5 whistles on low flame. My MIL cooks it covered in a pan, but it takes 2-3 hours for the sarson leaves to get cooked. so i go for pressure cooking which is faster. I personally don't think it makes any difference to the taste.

4) Let it cool down and then grind together in a coarse paste in your mixer and transfer in a pan.

5) Cook it in the pan covered for 10-15 minutes.

6) Now add the 2 tablespoon of corn flour and salt in proportion of the paste and cook again for 20 minutes while stirring in between.

7) In a pan, take oil for tadka and heat it up, add finely cut onions, finely cut green chili, finely cut ginger and finely cut garlic to it. Add salt to the proportion of onions. Saute till the onions turn translucent. Add garam masala.

8) Add this tadka to the mustard green paste and mix thoroughly. Add 2 tablespoon butter or ghee.

9) Simmer it for 5 minutes and you are ready to serve the saag. While serving add a tablespoon of ghee or butter.

10) For makki roti, knead the dough by mixing makki aata, salt and water.

11) Now rolling Makki roti is a difficult tast. To get unbroken rotis, i use a wet kitchen towel and roll small makki rotis  on the towel (my neighbour and friend V taught me this trick and it works like a charm). To take the rotis off the towel take the towel in your palm and turn it over to put roti in your other palm.

Then on the hot tawa make rotis like regular rotis. Apply ghee or butter.

And Enjoy Makki ki roti with Sarson ka Saag....

+techie ZM 

Malai Kofta Curry

I have this childhood memory of going to the Collegian restaurant with my parents and nicely place the napkin on my lap acting like a grown up and ordering my own food and enjoying our dinner together...But what i remember most from those days is the Malai Kofta...Every time we went there, i would order Malai Koftas. But sadly the restaurant closed down and i could not find that amazing taste of Malai Koftas anywhere else even at the reopened Collegian...

But then i bought this book from Neeta Mehta and in that i found the recipe of Malai Kofta (or rather i bought the book because it has the recipe of Malai kofta :) oh and BTW of Jalebi also) and i made Malai Kofta following the recipe (well almost!!!) and we found it delicious!!!! But i was not completely satisfied, so i decided to make a few changes suggested by hubby and do things the way i do for the Shaahi Paneer recipe...And Viola, i found the perfect taste!!!!

My only problem with this recipe is that i have to stop myself and my family from "tasting" the gravy and kofta before the actual meal, and believe me it's very difficult to stop!!!!

So without further ado, here is the perfect Malai Kofta Recipe....

Yummy Malai Kofta....

Ingredients:

For gravy

3 Onions peeled and cubed
3 tablespoons fresh cream
2 handfuls of cashews
1 small pinch of saffron strands soaked in warm water
1 teaspoon Garam Masala
1/4 teaspoon Red chili powder
1 big pinch of kasoori methi
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste
2 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup milk

For Koftas

2 Boiled potatoes
100 gm paneer
1 brown bread (white will also do)
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon Garam masala
1/4 teaspoon Chili powder
Chaat Masala to taste
Oil for Frying Koftas

For Filling in Kofta

1 small onion, finely cut
5-6 Cashew finely cut
2-3 pinches of finely cut ginger
salt
2-3 pinches garam masala
15 Kishmish (raisin) (Optional)
chaat masala to taste
1 tablespoon oil

Method:

1) For making Gravy, in a mixy (and not in a hand blender, it doesn't give the required smooth texture) take onions, cream and cashew and create a smooth paste. If needed add a little milk.

2) For gravy, in a kadai add oil and then add the paste, stir continuously till the oil separates. Also soak Saffron strands in warm water.

3) Then add Salt, Garam masala, chili powder and sugar, saffron strands and kasoori methi. Mix well.

Gravy for Malai Kofta

4) Add the milk and a little water and mix well. Gravy is ready...

5) Now for the Koftas, in a big plate, mash the boiled potatoes, paneer and the bread nicely together and mix well.

6) To this add salt, garam masala, chaat masala and chili powder and mix well.

7) For the filling in the koftas take a kadai and add oil and the finely onion and ginger. Saute till it turns brown. Then add the finely cut cashew, salt, garam masala and chaat masala. mix well. your filling is ready.

8) Now make balls of kofta (using the potato, paneer mixture), then using your finger make a cavity in the center and fill the prepared filling and Kishmish and seal the ball. Flatten it like a tikki.

9) I made it like Tikki by shallow frying it on the tawa. You can deep fry them, but carefully while deep frying because, the koftas are so soft, they tend to break if handled roughly. And if you are planning to deep fry then it will be advisable to keep the kofta shape round rather then the disc like tikkis.

Koftas....

 Or you can bake/grill the koftas as RM did for her kela koftas. I tried baking, and they were tasty but not very soft, so next time i grill them i will brush them with a little more oil, that should solve the problem.

10) When ready to serve, check the gravy, if it needs to be made thin then add little water to the gravy, mix well and simmer. Take it out in the serving bowl, add the koftas (carefully otherwise they may break). Mix and serve...

Goes well with the tandoori rotis, naan or parathas...Enjoy...

+techie ZM

Jalebi!!!

Jalebi is a dish that is loved across India!!! So, when i saw Jalebi's recipe in a newspaper long back, i thought it's so easy...Why doesn't anyone make it at home?!? Well, i tried it and came to know "Why"....

Though it's very quick to make, it's not as easy as it looks. So 1st time i tried it (4 years ago), in place of Jalebi, i got Boondi!!!! It tasted good but the shape was all messed up. So i gave up on Jalebi....

Recently again i came across it's recipe in a Neeta Mehta book that i have and thought of trying it again. And this time i could manage to make something in between Jalebi and Boondi, still shape was not perfect. But the taste was of authentic Jalebi!!!! Yipee......

I realized that here, consistency is the Key. The batter should not be too watery at the same time it should not be too thick.

Once you figure out the consistency, making Jalebi is Cakewalk!!! The consistency should be thicker than Dosa (It should be of dropping/ribbon  consistency)

And next time i made it, i could manage decent shape as well!!! Here is the pic!!!

Jalebi.....

As i said, the recipe is  from a Neeta Mehta cookbook, this will make a lot of Jalebis, if you are making for 2 people then please use half the quantity.

Ingredients:

For Jalebi:
Maida - 1 Cup
Besan - 1 Tablespoon
Soda - 1/4 teaspoon
Oil - 1/2 Tablespoon
Thick Curd - 1/2 Cup
Warm Water - 3/4 Cup (Based on the Maida you are using, the amount of water needed may vary)
Oil for Frying

For Sugar Syrup:
Sugar - 1+1/4 Cup
Water - 3/4 Cup
Saffron strands - 2 pinches (though the recipe said to use Orange-red colour, i used saffron)

Method:
1) In a mixing bowl, take Maida, Besan and Soda.

2) Add thick curd & oil. (I have realized that if you use 1/2 days old curd just out from the fridge then it gives better results).

3) Now comes the consistency part, so very carefully, add warm water to the mixing bowl.

4) Beat everything together and till you get the batter of dropping consistency (thicker than dosa batter)

5) Cover it and leave aside for 30-40 minutes (Don't skip this, it is important).

6) Heat oil in a kadai.

7) The book says that using a piping bag make circles (from outside to inside) in the hot oil.
Initially i used my Sev no sancho (Sev maker, Kitchen Press or whatever it is called) to drop jalebis..It gave me okay results.
Later i put the batter in an old hanky and made a hole in the center (to get a potli like thing) and it gave me correct shape.
Next time i am going to try the empty milk packet, where after washing the drying the milk packet, i will fill it with batter and will make a hole at the bottom to drop the jalebis in the oil. (Idea from Hubby's aunt)
Edited to add photo: These one's are made using empty milk packet and they came out perfect, so i am going to stick to them for Jalebi making :)

Jalebis (dropped using empty milk packet)

8) Fry the Jalebis in the oil till they are the heavenly golden coloured, like a jalebi should be :) take out on tissue paper.

9) Meanwhile make Sugar syrup. For that Mix water, sugar and saffron strands in a kadai and heat. we have to get the syrup of single string. For that after the 1st boil, keep the flame low and keep stirring for 5-7 minutes.

10) Let the syrup cool for a minute and then dip Jalebis in the syrup (Don't dip all of them together, do in the batch of 3-4 Jalebis at a time) and serve hot!!!
You can garnish it with saffron strands soaked in warm water, or serve with Rabdi or cream!!! We had it even with Vanilla ice cream :)

Notes:
1) Dip the Jalebis in the syrup only when you are ready to eat them.
2) Make the syrup only when you are ready to eat Jalebis as the syrup will become thick after some time (though you can heat it up again on low flame, but still it is good to make fresh syrup).

+techie ZM

Shahi Paneer with a (tomato) twist | Quick Paneer Curry | Curry in a hurry | Restaurant style Shahi Paneer

I learnt this one from my friend and neighbour P. And it was an immediate hit. Zini too loved it. And it is so easy and fast to make, i make it now to impress my guests ;)

Shahi Paneer.....

So let's get to the business...

Ingredients:

2 Big Tomatoes

Handfull of Kaju

2 Tablespoon Fresh (or otherwise ;)) cream

1 Medium sized onion

1 small capsicum

1 Teaspoon Ginger Garlic paste

Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala

1/4 teaspoon Black pepper powder

1 pinch turmeric

4 Tablespoon oil.

100 Gm paneer

1/2 cup warm water

2 pinches of Kasoori Methi

Dhania patta and a green chilli for garnishing

Method:

1) In a mixer, make a smooth paste of kaju, Taomatoes and fresh cream. (Don't add water)

2) Cut the Onions and Capsicum in square shape.

Onions and Capsicum

 3) Take oil in a kadai and saute the capsicum and onion in it. Ensure that they remain crunchy.

 Onions and capsicum Done

4) Once they are done, take out in a plate or bowl or anything. (leaving the oil behind).

5) Now, in the same kadai, add the ginger garlic paste. and saute it.

6) Add the paste of tomato, kaju and cream to the kadai.

7) Keep stirring the paste, till you see the oil separate (it is actually the ghee, that comes out of the cream :) )

8) Now, add the salt, garam masala, turmeric, kasoori methi and black pepper powder and mix well.

Oil seperated, Masala Added

9) Add half cup of warm water to the kadai and mix well.

10) Cut the paneer pieces in a triangular shape and add to the kadai.

After adding Paneer and water

11) Cook on a medium flame for 5 mins.

12) Add the sauted Capsicum and onion to the curry and it is ready!!!

Take out in a bowl and garnish with finely cut dhania patta and a slit green chilli.

Before Garnishing, almost done[/caption]

Serve it with tandoori roti, naan or parathas...

+techie ZM

Instant Khaman (Dhokla) | Nylon Khaman | Khaman Dhokla recipe

My hubby is mad about them and everybody outside Gujarat knows these Khaman as Dhokla and love them. My colleagues at Hyderbad too were no exception and requested me to make them, so i learnt how to make this instant variety of Khaman also known as Nylon Khaman.

Before that i had never made them, as nobody at my home is particularly fond of them, we all love our fermented Dhokla (The one with rice and daal) and vaati daal na khaman.

So i called up my mom and asked for the recipe, after few trials, i could make the perfect (the kind you find in the Ahmedabad shops) Khaman (ok, say dhokla if you have to). And now they are regular feature at our home :)

Here is how i make it.

Instant Khaman Dhokla

Ingrediants:

For Khaman

1.5 Cup Besan (Bengal gram flour)

5 teaspoon Sugar 

1/2 teaspoon Citric Acid (Limbu na ful - available everywhere in India -in case you are not able to find it then use lemon or sour curd)

Salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon Soda

2 pinches of Turmeric

For Tadka

2 Tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon Rai (Mustard seeds)

1 teaspoon Til (Sesame Seeds)

Hing (2 pinches)

Lemon juice of 1 small lemon

Sugar powder (3 teaspoon)

1 cup water (Yes, you read it right, water!!!)

2 green chillies, cut in small pieces (Optional - i don't use it as my hubby is not fond of it)

Dhania patta for garnishing

Method:

1)Take Besan, Salt, Sugar, Turmeric powder, Citric Acid and soda in a mixing bowl and mix well.

2) Add water to it to make thicker than dosa/pancake batter. (Don't mix too vigorously and don't use the beater at all, i did it once and my Khaman didn't rise at all)

3) Because of combination of soda and citric acid, you will see that your batter becomes frothy.

4) Now, keep it aside for 10 mins.

5) Meanwhile take a big pateela (deep pan), take water in it, put a stand inside(or a bowl on which you will be putting your khaman plate) put it on a medium flame. Cover it using a lid (Wrap the lid in a cloth to avoid soggy khaman).

Big Pateela/Pan before putting khaman plate - you can see the circular stand in center to keep the plate on it

After covering with a lid wrapped in a cloth

6) grease a thali (deep plate), or dabba (or anything in which you plan to pour the batter for making khaman - But should be deep enough so that khaman can rise properly)

7) After the water heats, pour your khaman batter in the thali and put the thali inside the Big Pateela, on the stand (Or Katori, whaterver you chose).

8) Cover with the lid.

9) Steam the Khaman for 20 mins (or till the knife inserted in it comes out clean).

10) Once steamed take the plate out and let it cool. Once cooled, cut into square or diamond shape.

11) For Tadka, Mix water, lemon juice and sugar in a bowl.

12) Then in a kadai, take oil, add mustard seeds.

13) Once they crackle, add Til, let them crackle then Add hing and turn the flame off. if using green chilies then, add the cut green chilli pieces carefully.

14) Now using a ladle, very carefully and slowly add the prepared mixture of water, sugar and lime juice to the kadai. (Very very carefully)

15) Mix the Tadka properly and pour it on the cut Khaman.

Garnish with Dhania patta and dive in :)

you can have it with green chutney or as it is...

Now, what if you don't have the big pateela and other taam-zaam for making the khaman?!?! Don't loose heart, you can use your Idli stand instead.
And recently i was telling my neighbour P how to make it and told her that Khaman needs to be steamed, so she came up with this brilliant idea of steaming it in Rice cooker, so if you have a rice cooker you can steam khaman in that!!! In place of big pateela, you use rice cooker, everything else remains exactly same!!!but don't forget to cover the lead with a cloth).

once the Khaman shaped as Idli gets steamed and cooled, take them out in plate, or bowl and cut into squares.

Then proceed with the Tadka and pour it over these khamans and enjoy!!!!!!

+techie ZM

Masala Oats

Recently i went to buy a water bottle for Zini, and i saw packs of homestyle masala oats by quakers. (Yeah i can go out to buy something and come back with something else ;) ) i thought of giving it a try and oh i loved it. So from now onwards, move over maggie as the masala oats are my new comfort food :)

But then one day i ran out of the masala oats packs, but i had simple white oats at home, so i thought of making my version of masala oats, and they too turned out yummy :) so now i am regularly making this :)

Ready to Eat - You can garnish with Dhania patta if you want to :)

How do i make it??? See for yourself..

Ingredients:

1 Big onion (Finely cut or cut in long slices -  i prefer finely cut)

1 small tomato (Finely cut)

1 small Carrot (Optional- Finely cut)

4 pods of Garlic - crushed or grated

1/2 teaspoon green chilli and ginger paste (i had it, you can finely cut the green chillies and ginger)

Salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon sugar (Optional - i like both the version, with and without sugar)

1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

Red Chilli powder (Optional)

1/2 teaspoon Dhania powder

1/4 teaspoon Turmeric

2 Cups water

1/2 cups oats

1/2 teaspoon oil

Method:

1) In a kadai, add the oil, onion, carrot, garlic, ginger and chilli paste.

2) Saute till the onions brown, then add tomatos.

3) Add Pepper, Chilli powder, Turmeric, Dhania powder and Salt. Keep stirring for 1 minute.

4) Add water, and then add Oats.

5) Now let the oats cook (Takes around 4-5 minutes).

6) Add sugar, if you want to...

And Dig in :)

Note: You can skip some masala or add some, you can experiment with it. And the measurements that i gave are as per my taste palate, you can change the amount of masala and other ingredients as per your liking and enjoy :)

+techie ZM

Paalak Paneer Puris | Paalak Parathas | Flatbread using leftover Spinach Cottage Cheese Curry

My mom used to make Paalak Parathas and i loved them. My MIL suggested Paalak-Paneer Puris as my hubby loves them. So i made them and Zini too liked them. I have mixed the gujarati & punjabi versions of puris.I have tried this on friends, all of them loved these puris.

I have tried making parathas out of the same dough, they too taste good.

Recently on Lifesong's post i suggested Palak-Paneer Puris, so putting up the recipe here.

So if you want to pump up greens in your meals then give these puris/parathas a try :)

Paalak Paneer Paratha | Spinach and cottage cheese Flatbreads

 Ingredients:

Wheat flour (Depends on how much Palak-Paneer curry you have)

Oil

Salt to taste

Red Chili powder to taste

Turmeric powder

Dhania- Powder (coriander seeds powder)

Hing (Asofoetida)

Ajwain (Carom seeds)

Left-over paalak paneer (or aalu-paalak) curry

Method:

1)      Take wheat flour in a mixing bowl. Take flour in proportion to the palak-paneer subzi.

2)      Add Oil and mix well. AFter that try holding the flour in your feast, there should be some bonding in the flour.

3)      Now add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric, Dhania-Jeera Powder, hing and ajwain.

4)      Mix well.

5)      Now use Paalak-paneer sabzi to knead dough.

6)      Make it tight enough so that you can roll puris without applying flour to that.

7)      In case it has become a little softer than apply oil on belan and chakla and the dough balls to roll the puris.

8)      Fry them in hot enough oil.

9)      Take them out on tissue paper, as these puris tend to soak a lot of oil.

If you don’t want to eat fried stuff then, you can make parathas/bhakhris out of the same dough.

Tip: Crush Ajwain with your hands before adding to the dough for better aroma.

Palak Paneer Puris | Spinach and Cottage Cheese Indian Puffed bread

+techie ZM

Palak Paneer/ Aalu Palak

Paalak (Spinach) is not very popular otherwise, but transform it into this mouth water dish and suddenly the same old, boring paalak turns very attractive.... The best thing about this healthy curry is that it is a powerhouse of iron, vitamins and protein (if using paneer (cottage cheese) or tofu). And it is extremely flexible, lending itself to vegan version by accommodating tofu in place of paneer (cottage cheese) or paleo version by allowing use of potato in place of paneer.

This is my MIL's version of this curry with little time saving modifications from me. If you want to check out other authentic Indian & Punjabi recipes, check out the recipe Index. Enjoy....

Palak paneer / spinach curry with cottage cheese

Palak paneer / spinach curry with cottage cheese

Ingrediants:

Onions – 2 medium sized

Tomatoes – 2 big

Green chilly - 1

Ginger

Garlic

Palak (Spinach) – 250 gms

Paneer (Cottage Cheese)– 100 gms (For vegan version use tofu, for paleo version use boiled potatoes cut into pieces)

Red chilly powder

Salt

Garam masala/ curry powder

Method:

1) Blanch Palak by putting it in boiling water. Once cooled make paste of palak in mixer (i keep it coarse, you can make fine paste if you like). Don’t throw away the water, use it to make paste.

2) Make paste of Onions, tomatoes, green chilly, garlic and ginger in mixer. Add water if needed. I keep this paste also coarse, you can also make fine paste.

3) Heat oil in a pan, and sauté the onion, tomato, chilly, ginger, garlic paste in it, till the oil separates.

4) Once oil separates, add salt, a little red chilly powder and garam masala. (remember that we already have green chillies to make it spicy, if you don't want it too spicy then you can avoid red chilly completely)

5) add the palak paste to it, cook it for a minute.

6) Now add Paneer/Aalu

            you can either deep fry them

           Or you can shallow fry them on a greased tava.

           Or you can put them as it is by cutting into pieces (This is what i do, it's healthier & less time
           consuming :))

7) Mix well, add water if needed.

8) Cook for 10 mins, or till the extra water evaporates.

You can serve the curry with Fulkas, Tandoori Rotis, Parathas or Rice, use leftover curry to make Palak Paneer Puris :)

Palak paneer / spinach curry with cottage cheese

Palak Paneer[/caption]

+techie ZM