Uttappam

Here is a variant of the much adored dosa in South India - the uttappam. I have eaten various other versions of dosa - masala, butter, rava and set - and uttappam is one of them. Given that weekends are when I get to flex my breakfast muscles in the kitchen, I decided to try out this dosa variant today. It came out pretty well, as is evident in the photo below, and did not need much for the sides as well since I had Maggi's hot & sweet tomato sauce to go with it. Yum-mee!



The ingredients for the dosa batter is the same as that of the regular dosa which I posted earlier. However, what differs is the thickness. Uttappam is much thicker than a regular dosa and when the batter is poured on the pan, chopped coriander, tomato, chillies and onions are sprinkled on it. You then turn it around to let the other side cook. That is pretty much it.


Enjoy!

..ShaKri..

Carrot Halwa

Here is something new! Quite possibly the most amazing dessert I have come across. Easily my #1 sweet dish - Carrot Halwa. Now, for many years I have had several people - many Godmothers and other angels - make this wonderful dish for me. Now that I am in a place in life where I can attempt, albeit with extreme care, some new stuff on my own, I decided to try my hand at making this dish. Although I am quite sure comparing my version with that of the other professionals like my mother would be nothing less than a sin, I still make the humble effort to share what I did here. I hope you find it appealing.



Ingredients
1 and a 1/2 cup grated carrots
2 tbsp cashew
2 tbsp raisins (or kishmish)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon powder
a few strands of saffron (or kesar)
sugar to taste
ghee as required (or melted unsalted butter)


Method
1. Roast the cashew and raisins in 1 spoon ghee and keep it aside.
2. Now boil the milk on medium heat so that it is half of its original quantity with strands of saffron. Keep this aside too.
3. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a nonstick pan and add the grated carrots to it. Stir fry this for about 10-15 minutes until the raw smell of carrots has disappeared. Make sure you stir this often so as to avoid carrots from being burnt.
4. Once well done, add the evaporated milk slowly. Let this simmer until the milk has disappeared.
5. Now add the cinnamon powder and mix well. Let this simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
6. Next add the roasted cashew and raisins with sugar. Mix well and switch off the heat.

That's it! Try this with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream! It is the best indeed! :-)

Enjoy!

..ShaKri..

Plain dosa with coconut chutney

Alrighty then! Something from the hardcore roots of my existence. I have always liked dosas with nice mint or coconut chutney. In fact if I am not having idli (and the optional vada) with chutney and sambar for breakfast while traveling in India then most likely I am having dosa. I also like the variations dosa has - onion, set, masala, butter...oh the list goes to eternity. Hence, given the fact that we have a blessed long weekend here, I decided to dish out some good old plain dosa. I still have batter left so I might try a few variations too. For now - here it is! It came out great actually. Crispy, golden brown and absolutely yummy with slightly spicy coconut chutney. I am giving below the recipe for each of these. Enjoy!




Plain rice dosa

Ingredients
3 cups rice (or 1 1/2 cup of rice flour)
1 cup of udal daal
1 table spoon methi seeds
salt to taste

Method

Soak the rice + udal daal + methi seeds in water for about 4-5 hours. Overnight is also fine. Then grind to make a smooth batter and let it ferment overnight for about 7-8 hours in some warm place. You need it to be slightly frothy and bitter smelling to know its ready. You can add salt to this batter once you are ready to roll.

Heat a little oil in a non-stick pan and pour one large spoonful of batter on the center. Let it spread to make a circular shape. Add a little oil to the edges and let it cook for about 2-3 minutes. Once the edges turn slightly brown turn the dosa over and let the other side cook for about 2-3 minutes. That's it! Plain dosa is good to go!



Coconut chutney

Base ingredients
4 tablespoons coconut milk (or 1 shredded coconut)
3 green chillies chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
small piece of tamarind (seedless)
2-3 pieces of fresh ginger
2 tablespoon roasted chana daal (kadale poppu)
salt to taste
coriander leaves - finely chopped


For tempering
1 teaspoon urad daal
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2-3 whole red chillies
1 tablespoon cut curry leaves
1 tsp heeng powder
1 tbsp oil

Method
1) Combine all the items for the base chutney and blend them with little water. It should not be too watery.
2) Now do the tempering with a little oil and add it to the blended chutney.

That's it! Your yummy chutney is ready for consumption.


..ShaKri..

Aloo Methi

I have been trying out different dishes with methi (seeds and leaves) and so here is one more attempt. I have always liked potato in them so I decided to make aloo methi by combining the methi leaves and potato. Here is the result!

Ingredients

Potatoes - 3 (cut in cubes)

Onion - 1

Ginger-Garlic paste (optional) - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2-3 chopped fine

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Red Chilly powder - 1tsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste



Method

1) Chop the methi leaves (Fenugreek leaves) fine and remove the stalks. I like mine with the bitterness in them but if you wish to remove it then mix it with 1 tsp of salt and keep it sitting for 10 minutes. You can then squeeze out the water from them and use them.

2) Heat oil in a deep dish pan and add the onions, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste when ready.

3) Once the onions turn translucent add the potato cubes and salt. Mix well.

4) Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are well done.

5) Now add the methi leaves along with the masala powders - coriander powder, red chilly powder and turmeric - and mix very well.

6) Cover and cook for 5 more minutes.



That's it! Some also add tomatoes at the end of it so that is also something you can try. Now have this with either rotis (like I did) or with just plain rice. Quick and tasty!


Cheers!


..ShaKri..

Matar Paneer

I am a big paneer fan. Anything vegetarian that has this wonderful ingredient in it has my vote any day. Of course, in moderation too given the fatty effect it comes with. That said, I wanted to make a simple little paneer dish for lunch today along with a couple of rotis. Hence decided to dish out the spicy and popular dish matar paneer which is a delightful concoction of peas and paneer. So here goes!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of green peas

1 cup of paneer cubed and dry roasted

2 medium onions chopped

1 tomato chopped

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste (optional)

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

pinch of asafoetida

1 tsp garam masala

salt per taste

3 tbsp oil

Coriander leaves (for garnishing if needed)



Method

1. Boil the green peas and keep aside.

2. Heat the oil in a pan.Put the onions , asafoetida , ginger garlic paste and fry till the onions are slightly browned.

3. Put the tomatoes, turmeric powder and fry for another 5 minutes on low flame.

4. Add red chilli powder , garam masala and saute for few minutes.

5. Add the peas with little amount of water and bring it to a boil.

6. Finally add the paneer cubes.Cook for a minute and remove from fire.

7. Garnish with coriander leaves (if preferred) and serve.







..ShaKri..

Aloo Paratha

I have started making a lot more rotis these days to try and reduce the rice intake. So, in order to try something different, I tried making aaloo parathas today. To my suprise they came out exceptionally well! I had them with Maggi's sweet and hot sauce and some thick yoghurt. Here is what I ended up making. I hope you try it sometime too!

Ingredients
150-200 gms Wheat flour (or as needed)

Enough water to make the dough

Salt to taste

5-6 medium sized potatoes

2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves (finely chopped)

4-5 green chillies

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste (optional)

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup oil, ghee or butter




Method

1. Knead a semi-soft dough with wheat flour,sufficient water and salt to taste.

2. Boil the potatoes and mash them when still hot.

3. Add finely chopped coriander leaves,green chillies, garlic and ginger paste,cumin seeds,lime juice and salt to taste. Mix well.

4. Divide the potato mixture into equal rounds. Similarly do the sames with the dough.Roll out the portion of the dough into a small chapati,spread a tsp of oil evenly on the rolled out chapati,place a portion of the potato mixture in the centre of the chapati.

5. Gather the edges to make a round flat peda. Lightly dust the surface with flour and roll out the peda into six-inch parathas.

6. On a hot griddle roast both sides of the paratha till they turn a shade of golden. Grease with ghee,oil or butter.

7. Serve hot with plain curds,slices of onions and tomatoes,green chillies,lemon wedges,green mint chutney and mango pickle.



That's it!



..ShaKri..

Rice Idli - Debut attempt

Idlis are popular breakfast dishes in India, specially in South India. Everything from taTTe idli (plate idli) to rava idli is served in every restaurant across the southern peninsula of the country. That said, given the connections of my ethnic roots there, it took me a decade to actually try and make idlis. I am not really sure why but I never got around to making them. Maybe it was because they are not as easy to make as say corn flakes or toast, for instance. But nevertheless I did buy an idli plate setting a few days ago and this seemed like the perfect weekend to try it out. Here is the result of my debut attempt. Special thanks to my friend Pratibha for teaching me how to make the batter for this dhideer idli recipe!

Method

1) Soak a mixture of 3/4 cup Urad daal + 2 Tablespoons Chana daal + 1 teaspoon Methi seeds in water for about 3-4 hours.

2) Grind the contents of 1) in a blender and gradually add to it 1 cup worth of rice flour. Grind again so that they all mix well together.

3) Now keep this batter in a warm place overnight. The idea is that it ferments properly.

4) In the morning, just before breakfast that is, smear oil/ghee on the idli plate holders and pour in the batter depending on how many you wish. I went with 2 plates (small ones) so I ended up with 8 idlis.

5) Steam cook them in a cooker or a vessel with boiling water and cover it. After about 15 minutes of proper steaming, your idlis are ready!

6) Scrape them out carefully with a spoon and have them with maybe a chutney or as I did, with my favorite hagalkai gojju. :)


Cheers,
ShaKri

Tomato Rice

Growing up in India one of the popular lunch/dinner dishes I was used to was the Tomato Rice baath dish. In fact a lot of the restaurants also serve this dish in Bangalore. That said, I tried it out with a slightly different dash by adding some peanuts and onions. Giving below the result which is absolutely divine to taste along with spicy daal paalak. I hope you also try the same and like it as much as I did! Enjoy!

Basic ingredients

Basmati rice: 1 cup

Tomatoes: two medium, chopped, with juice

Onions(optional): one, fine chopped (I used 1 chopped red onion)

Salt and lime juice to taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing(optional)

For seasoning

mustard seeds: one teaspoon

urad dal: one teaspoon

chana dal: 1/2 teaspoon

red chillies: 3-5 depending on how hot you like it

peanuts: 1/2 cup

curry leaves: 6 or 7

hing/asafoetida: a pinch

turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp

For the masala

one tablespoon coriander seeds

one tablespoon chana dal

one tablespoon white sesame seeds

4 or 5 red chilllies

1/2 teaspoon or less methi (fenugreek) seeds

Method

1. Cook the rice and separate the grains so that they are light to feel.

2. Heat oil in wok and add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, asafoetida, red chillis and curry leaves. Just when the mustard starts popping, add peanuts and fry for 3 or 4 minutes. Then add the turmeric powder and if using onions, add and fry the onions till translucent. Add the tomatoes and the juice from the tomatoes, and cook on medium-low flame.

3. In the meantime, dry roast the masala ingredients, adding the fenugreek after the others have roasted for a few minutes. Cool after they are golden brown and powder in a blender, or add a little water and blend into a thick paste.

4. When the raw smell of tomatoes is replaced by a cooked aroma, lower the flame, and add the blended masala, adding very little water if the mixture is too thick. The gravy should not be watery but a thick paste.

5. Add the salt, rice and mix well. You can also add lime juice and garnish with coriander.

..ShaKri..

Capsicum Upma

The item I decided to document today is considered a great breakfast dish in India. While I do understand this is a fairly simple one to make, I still wanted to write about it since it came out pretty well. I did not have coriander leaves to add towards the end but when you do try it, please ensure that finely chopped coriander leaves are also added. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 cup rawa (semolina)

2 medium sized capsicums

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 tsps curry leaves

1 tomato

1 green chilli

small piece of ginger

a pinch of asafoetida(hing)

1-2 tsp turmeric powder (some people prefer vangibath masala or garam masala too)

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 tsp salt

Finely chopped coriander - optional



Method

1) Roast(without oil) the rawa on low flame till it turns a little golden.

2) Chop the tomatoes and capsicum into small pieces.

3) Chop the ginger into strips and slit the green chilli length-wise.

4) Heat a little oil in a kadaiAdd mustard seeds and asafoetida.

5) When the mustard splutters, add the slit green chilli, curry leaves and ginger.

6) Add capsicum pieces and fry for a 2-3 mins.

7) Now add 1 cup water, chopped tomatoes and the turmeric powder.

8) Once the water starts boiling, add salt and the roasted rawa.

9) Stir so that no lumps are formed Add more water if needed

10)Once its done, switch off the stove and add the lemon juice.

11)Garnish with finely chopped coriander if needed.



..ShaKri..

Spicy Tomato Chutney

I wasn't really in the mood for some big dishes today as I had managed to cook up a late Capsicum Upma (recipe coming soon!) so I chose to have a paratha and curd rice with some tomato chutney. I have tried this sort of chutney just once before and I must say, it came out great yet again. This chutney goes well with anything so do try it out sometime!

Ingredients
Ripe Tomatoes - 6
Urad dal - 1 Tbsp
Methi Seeds - 1 Tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 Tbsp
Red Chilly powder - 1 Tbsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 Tbsp
Curry leaves - a few (chopped in half)
Dry Red Chillies - 3-4
Hing - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 Tbsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 Tbsps



Method
1. Heat the oil in a pan. Once it is hot add to it the mustard seeds,urad dal, methi seeds, hing, red chillies and curry leaves. Mix well.
2. To the mixture now add chopped tomatoes and mix well. Cover and cook on medium heat until tomatoes are well done.
3. Now add the red chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt and sugar to this mixture. Again, mix well and reduce the heat.
4. That's it! If you want no tomato lumps then chop the tomatoes real fine. I prefer mine with pieces of tomato that I can bite into, hence I made larger chunks when adding. Now cool and have it with any main dish of your choice.


Cheers!



..ShaKri..

Aloo Karela vegetable

Those of you who know me will know that I am a HUGE fan of karela (hAgalakAyi). In fact legend has it that I used to eat it raw when I was a kid! That said, there have been very few instances where I have tried to experiment with this divine vegetable in something other than the traditional gojju. Given my colorful palatte for various flavors, I decided to make another equally yummy dish by combining it with potato this time. The result was - to say the least -awesome. I think I suddenly like this dish better than gojju! I intend to try the Bengali dish shukto next. I shall let you know if it comes out well. ;) For now, please enjoy Aloo Karela.

Ingredients

1. Karela (Bitter Gourd) - 3-4 pieces chopped well.
2. Potato - 1-2 chopped into small pieces.
3. Onion - 1
4. Green Chillies - 3-4
5. Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
6. Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
7. Coriander Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
8. Sugar (as per resistance to bitterness)
9. Oil
10. Salt to taste



Method
1. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan.
2. Once the oil is hot put the onions, green chillies, karela and potato to the pan.
3. Mix well, cover and cook on low flame until karela turns light brown.
4. Once the vegetables are well cooked add the masala powders and mix well.
5. Now add the sugar and mix well. The sweetness part of it is optional and based on your taste level.
6. Cook for a few more minutes and add salt to taste.

That's it! You can now enjoy the vegetable with chapatis or rice. A great side dish for any day! :)


Cheers,

ShaKri

Daal Palak

Being a big fan of palak, I couldn't go by this weekend without making one more of much appreciated dishes. So here it is - mixed daal with palak curry. A great side dish with rice and/or roti! So here goes.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Tur dal
1/3 cup Moong dal
1 bunch fresh spinach -washed-chopped roughly
1 tbsp- ginger/garlic paste
1 small onion-finely chopped
1 medium sized tomato-finely
3 green chillies finely chopped
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp ghee (or oil)Salt to taste

Method
1. Pressure cook (or boil) the daals till soft with half the green chillies and turmeric.

2.In a pan, heat oil. Now add the cumin seeds, once they start popping, add the ginger/garlic paste, the remaining green chillies and chopped onion.Fry till onions turn golden brown.

3. Now add tomato, spinach, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt. Saute the above mixture till it turns soft and golden.

4.Add the boiled dal mix to the above. Mix well, remove from flame.

5. Serve hot with rotis and/or rice.


..ShaKri..

Paalak Paneer

One more paneer dish that I have always enjoyed tinkering with. Adding the much adored palak to it only kicks it up a notch! So here goes my version of the dish that is quite popular on the Indian cuisine.

Ingredients
Paneer cubes 10-15
Onion chopped 1
Ginger/Garlic paste 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Coriander Powder 1 Tsp
Oil 1 Tsp

For Gravy

1 bunch of fresh spinach (palak)
1 small piece ginger
2-3 Green chillies
1 onion small finely chopped
1 tomato well chopped

Method
1) Wash & drain the water from the spinach. Now chop them coarsely.
2) In a pan bring to boil or microwave on high for 8 minutes all the ingredients for gravy.
3) Cool & grind them coarsely to a semi-thick paste.
4) In the same pan heat the oil, fry onions till translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and fry briefly.
5) Then mix all the spice powders & stir for a couple of minutes.
6) Now add the spinach paste & let it cook for a couple of minutes till they all get mixed well.
7) Now add the Paneer cubes cook for 2 minutes & switch off the flame.

And that's it! Super simple and extremely tasty Palak Paneer is ready to be had with piping hot rotis and/or rice.

Enjoy!

..ShaKri..

Paneer Tikka

I am a big fan of the paneer. As much as I am sure a regular intake isn't exactly the healthy choice, I do indulge in its sinfulness every now and again. This weekend was one such occasion as I dished out some pretty decent tasting Paneer Tikkas to go with my mixed vegetable sambar. So here is what I ended up making!

Ingredients
1) Paneer - packed / frozen - about 250 gms
2) 1 tablespoon Red Chilly powder
3) 1 tablespoon Turmeric powder
4) 1 tablespoon Coriander powder
5) 1 tablespoon ginger/garlic paste
6) 2 teaspoons lemon juice
7) 4-5 large tablespoons besan flour
8) Salt to taste

Method
1) Take a bowl and mix in it all the components from 2) to 7) with some water. The consistency has to the match that of a dosa batter.
2) Now cut the paneer into 1/2 inch pieces and dip them in the batter from above step.
3) Keep them soaked so that they get coated with the batter properly.
4) Now add some salt to this mixture and mix them well.
5) Heat oil in a deep dish pan and deep fry each paneer piece into it one by one until it turns golden brown.
6) Paneer is quite tender so it gets cooked quickly, so ensure you turn it around well in time.
7) Place the tikkas on a dry kitchen tissue so that the excessive oil is absorbed. And that's it!

Serve with whatever you are having with maybe tomato sauce or mint chutney and enjoy!

..ShaKri..

Mixed vegetable saag

One of the easiest dishes for me to make is mixed vegetable saag. Reason : it only has 3 basic steps - cook veggies, make masala and mix them together. It is the ideal dish for me on an evening when I have slaved away at work for over 10 hours and just need something quick to have with rice and/or roti. Hence, I present this much adored and very tasty mixed vegetable saag recipe.

Ingredients
Vegetables of your choice - carrots, peas, potatoes, radish, beans etc. (Frozen type also works) Cook and keep these vegetables separately for later use.

For Masala
3 tablespoons coconut milk (or freshly grated coconut)
4-5 cloves
1/2 onion
2 tablespoons roasted chana dal (hurigaDale - puTANi - the one used for coconut chutney)
1 tablespoon cashew
1-2 pieces of cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 small piece of ginger

Other ingredients
2 tablespoon oil
Some curry leaves
Salt to taste
Some jeera seeds (if you prefer it)



Method
1) Blend all the masala ingredients to a fine smooth paste. Adjust the level of water as required so that it has the same feel as a dosa batter. If you want more thickness then add some cashews or some more roasted chana daal.
2) Heat a pan with oil and add the curry leaves into it. Then add the jeera seeds and let the aroma appear.
3) To this add the cooked (and water-ridden) veggies and stir well.
4) After about a minute add the masala paste to the dish and mix well.
5) You can add some more water if you wish to make it thinner in texture and more in quantity.
6) Let the dish come to a boil. Take it off heat and add salt to taste.


That's it! Simple dish for a quick vegetable option. Hope you all try it and like it the same way I do.


Cheers,
SK

Capsicum Curry

I was looking for some ways to kick up capsicum (shimla mirchi or doNNemeNasinakAyee) and do something different with it. Managed to find a good recipe for Capsicum curry so dished it out last night. It was very tasty and went well with the rice and the rotis. So maybe you can try it out sometime too! Here is the result and following it is the recipe.

Ingredients

To grind to a smooth paste
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut or 3 tablespoons coconut milk (whichever you use)
1/2 cup sesame seeds
2 Tbsp coriander seeds
2 Tsp cumin seeds
3 to 4 Dry red chillies
1 cup water (can be adjusted depending upon the thickness of the gravy desired)


Rest of the ingredients
5 medium green/red capsicum
1 Tsp mustard seeds
1/2 Tsp cumin seeds
1 Dry red chilly
1 Medium onion chopped
2 Green chillies
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
Salt to taste


Method
1) Grind the gravy ingredients to a smooth paste.
2) Cut the peppers into about 1 inch pieces
3) Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and saute the peppers for about 8 to 10 mins on a medium flame till they are slightly brown along the edges. The peppers become soft and tender, so you know that is your cue.
4) Remove in a bowl and keep aside.
5) Now add the remaining oil in the same pan and heat.Add mustard seeds.When they splatter,add cumin seeds and red chilly.
6) Then add chopped onions and fry till they are slightly brown.
7) Add the gravy paste and salt and cover and cook on medium flame till it bubbles.
8) Then add the sauted peppers.Cover and cook till the peppers are tender.
9) Just before removing from the flame,add lemon juice and stir. This adds a nice "kick" to the dish and makes it a little tangy which is, believe me, a lovely addition.


And that's it! Your spicy/tasty capsicum gravy is ready! You can have this with rice or rotis or both. I hope you get a chance to dish this one out soon.


Cheers,

ShaK

Bread Pakora

Now I am sure many might not find this one as a "great" recipe but considering I am no professional chef, such things are nothing less than a milestone for me. And hence, I thought of sharing it here. Nothing is more relaxing than a nice piping plate of spicy bread pakoras for a rainy or cold evening isn't it? So, I decided to make some using my very popular 'trial and error' method. The result is given below. I hope you too get a chance to try this out and hopefully enjoy it as much as I did!

Ingredients

4-5 slices of bread - cut into small squares.
4 tablespoons of Besan powder (kadale hiTTu)
3 green chillies
1 teaspoon red chilly powder
Coriander leaves chopped fine
Salt to taste



Method


1) Mix the besan with some water along with finely chopped green chillies, red chilly powder and coriander leaves. Make sure the batter isn't too thick but isn't too thin either since it needs to stick to the bread.

2) To this add the salt and mix well until the batter resembles that of a dosa batter.

3) Now immerse the bread pieces into it ensuring that it is properly covered with the batter on both sides.

4) Heat oil in a deep dish pan (you need a deep dish since you are going to drown the pakoras in steaming oil!) and start putting in each of the pakoras one by one into the dish.

5) Deep fry them until they are golden brown, and then remove them onto a paper napkin (or kitchen tissue) so that the excessive oil is absorbed.

6) Thats it! Have it with some tangy sauce or some other chutney, as you wish.


The same recipe can be used to make pakoras of any kind - capsicum, potato etc - so feel free to deep fry your choice and hope the rainy days seem more pleasant thanks to the pakoras! ;)


Cheers,

SK

Bittergourd Curry

Due to popular demand I present my "version" of the much acclaimed Hagalkayi (bittergourd) gojju. This is the way we do it back home, so there is a good chance you do it differently. Also, I am separating the recipe into 2 parts - one, for the preparation of the gojju powder (which is what I use to make mine) and two, the actual gojju. Hope it is easy to follow.

Making the gojju powder

Ingredients

Dry Red chillies about 10 (or as required by your 'spice buds')
Methi Seeds - 2 tablespoons
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Oil - about 2 teaspoons

Method

Heat the oil in a pan and add small quantities of methi seeds and turmeric to it. Keep stirring and keep adding as the methi seeds start to change color. To this continue adding small red chilli pieces (I am told that one can also replace red chilli pieces with red chilly powder). Make sure all the ingredients are properly sauted. Now, cool this concoction and blend it to a fine powder. The powder has to be very consistent without any chilli or methi pieces available. And that's it! The powder will red or dark red in color which is what you are aiming for. 'Mentya menasu gojjina' powder is ready! And FYI - I have never actually made this powder since mom usually makes a big bottle's worth which I use.



Making the Hagalkayi Gojju

Ingredients

5-6 Bittergourd - finely cleaned off the seeds and cut into small pieces. Some prefer the crescent shape as well which is also fine.
2-3 tablespoons of Rice flour (akki hiTTu)
A string of curry leaves
4 teaspoons sugar (or as required. This can also be replaced by Jaggery)
2 teaspoons tamarind juice
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
Oil to taste


Method

1) Heat the oil in a pan and add mustard seeds to it. Once it starts to crackle, add chopped curry leaves to it. Mix them well.

2) Now, add the bittergourd pieces to this and mix well. Cover and cook until bittergourd is well done. You can check by sticking a fork into it.

3) Now add about 2-3 spoons of the hagalkayi powder (from above) to this and mix for a few seconds. You might want to mix the powder in some water and add so that it doesn't get burnt.

4) Add 2 teaspoons tamarind juice to this and mix well again.

5) Now add about 1-2 cups of water to the dish and mix. This is where I add the sugar and the rice flour so that the gojju is thick and not too bitter.

6) Let this cook on high flame for about 5 minutes. Keep stirring it on occasion to ensure it is mixing well.

7) And that's it! Add salt to taste and lo! Your gojju is ready to be had with rice/roti/chapati ... whatever your choice seems to suggest.

I hope you enjoy trying this time-tested classic which remains my # 1 dish of all times. Or as I like to call it my 'darling dish' ! All the best and do let me know how it turned out.



Cheers,
ShaKri

Gobi Matar Curry

With a tiring week behind me, wanted to try out something different for the quiet Friday night as it silently rains outside. Was looking around and found a nice recipe for tasty Gobi Matar curry. Spent about 25 minutes on it (after the cooking of the veggies were done) and lo! it was ready. So here is the delicious curry I prepared. Hope you get a chance to try it too.

Ingredients
1 cup peas and some cauliflower pieces (boiled and cooked separately)
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1 teaspoon Ginger/Garlic paste
1 teaspoon Kitchen King masala (this one adds a nice 'restaurant like' taste)
1 teaspoon Red chilly powder
1 Green chilli chopped
1 Red chilli chopped
1/2 teaspoon Coriander powder
1 Tablespoon thick yoghurt
A pinch of turmeric
Some chopped coriander leaves
1 tablespoon oil/butter
Salt to taste



Method
1) First boil and keep aside the peas and cauliflower pieces. Make sure they are not too overdone.
2) Heat oil in a deep dish pan and add onions to it. Saute it till it turns brown.
3) Add ginger/garlic paste, green chili, red chilie to this mixture and saute for a few more minutes until the aroma catches on.
4) Now add chopped tomatoes, coriander and all the dry masalas to this mixture. Let it cook on medium flame until tomatoes are completely done.
5) Now take this off the heat and let it cool. In the meantime you can make your rice or roti or whatever else you have planned to have this curry with.
6) Once the mixture is cool, blend it with 1 tablespoon of thick yoghurt to a smooth paste.
7) Now mix the veggies and this paste together with a little water and let the dish simmer for about 5 minutes.
8) Add salt to taste and garnish with remaining coriander leaves. And that's it!



I found that the more yoghurt you add the more "non spicy" it becomes. So make sure you add just enough to keep your horns from going off!



Enjoy!



ShaKri