Monday 17 December 2012

Dal Dhokla


One of my mother in law's creation, a very heathy snack option!

Ingredients:

For the Dhokla:
  1. 1 cup green gram dal (mug dal)
  2. 1 cup Bengal gram dal (chana dal)
  3. 1/2 cup rice
  4. 6-7 green chillies
  5. 2-3 mediumn ginger pieces
  6. Lemon (1/2)
  7. 1/2 tsp soda


For the tempering:
  1. Mustard seeds
  2. Curry leaves
  3. Cumin seeds
  4. Pinch of asafoetida

Method:
1) Wash all the dals together and soak in the morning

2) Grind in the evening with the chillies, ginger and salt.

3)Keep batter overnight.

4) In the morning, Heat little oil. Once hot add the soda. Pour this in the batter. Also squeeze in the lemon (Sorry forgot to take a picture here)

5) Grease a flat vessel with oil. Pour batter. Steam for 15-20 minutes.

6) For the tempering, heat a little oil. Add the mustard seeds, jeera and curry leaves. Add a pinch of asafoetida. Let it splutter.










7) Pour over the steamed dhokla. Server hot with chutney.


Friday chicken


This is my own recipe. I call it Friday chicken because it has been our Friday night dish on many occasions :)

Ingredients:

For the marinade:
1) Garlic (10 -15 cloves)
2) Ginger (1 medium piece, peeled and chopped)
3) Coriander (A handful)
4) Mint leaves (A handful)



For the chicken:
1) Curry leaves (15-20 leaves)
2) Green chillies (3-4 chopped & vertically slit)
3) 3-4 cloves
4) 2-3 cinnamon sticks
5) Onion (3-4 medium sized, chopped vertically)
6) Chicken (150 gms) cleaned and chopped into small pieces





Method:
1) Grind the Garlic, ginger, coriander and mint leaves into a fine paste.

2) Marinate chicken with turmeric, chilly powder and the ground paste.

3) Heat oil. Add the cloves, cinnamon sticks. Add Green chillies, curry leaves and onion.

4) Once onion turns brown, add the chicken.

5) Add ready made Everest chicken masala. Add chilly powder/salt as per taste.


6) Let it cook on medium heat. Keep stirring in between. Garnish with coriander.

Alsane tonak


This is typical Goan recipe.  Alsane are a type of legumes readily available in Goa.

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup alsane soaked overnight
2) 1 onion chopped vertically
3) 7-8 cloves
4) 3-4 cinnamon sticks
5) 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
6) 7-8 black pepper
7) 1 cup grated coconut
8) One potato  (optional)




Method:

1) Chop the potato in large pieces. Pressure cook the alsane along with potato. (3 whistles)


2)  Heat oil in a pan. Fry all the spices together


3) Once slightly brown, fry the onion.



4) Once the onion is brown, add the grated coconut.

5) Once brown, turn off heat and let cool. Then grind this in a mixer to form a fine paste. Unfortunately, no picture here.
6) To the cooked alsane, add this ground paste.

7) Add haldi powder, chilli powder and salt as per taste. Add water if required. Garnish with coriander.


Jain Cauliflower Bhaji


Mondays is no onion day at my place. So I sometimes use this simple maharastrian recipe for mondays!

Ingredients:

One cauliflower
3-4 green chillies chopped.

Method:

1) Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add mustard seeds and cumin. Once they splutter, add green chilies.  Add little haldi powder. Add salt.



2) Add the chopped cauliflower. Stir till it is well mixed.



3) Keep the pan covered with a lid. Add little water to the lid.



4) Keep stirring intermittently till the cauliflower is cooked. Garnish with coriander.


5) The original maharastrian recipe also uses grated coconut for garnishing, but I usually avoid coconut unless necessary just to keep a check on chorestrol levels!

Ragda Pattice


Everybody likes Ragda Pattice Prepared on the streets. Here is my mum's recipe of this mouth watering dish :)

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups white chana
  • 2 onions chopped
  • 2 tomatoes chopped
  • Coriander for garnishing
  • 5-6 medium to big sized potatoes

Method (Ragda):

1) Soak the chana for 7-8 hours. Pressure cook in cooker. (3 whistles)

2) Fry the onions in a little oil.



3) Once slightly brown, add haldi powder and chili powder. Fry for 2-3 more mins



4) Add chopped tomatoes. Fry some more time.



5) Add the cooked chanas. Add salt as per taste. Allow to cook for few mins.



6) Take a small portion of this cooked mixture. And grind in mixer.



7)   Add the ground paste back to the curry. Cook for few more minutes. Garnish with coriander



Method (Pattice)

1) Boil the potatoes. Mash them once cooled.



2) Add haldi powder, chili powder and salt. Shape into flat round balls. You can also add finely chopped onion , green chillies (optional, i did not add them).



3) Add little oil to a pan and shallow fry.



Tamarind chutney and Pudina chutney:

I used some recipes on the internet and prepared these chutneys but they did not turn out to be well. So you can either download the recipes from the internet or buy these chutneys from any chaat shop. 

To prepare the Ragda pattice, lay 2 pattice on a plate. Pour a spoonfull ragda. Add the tamarind chutney and pudina chutney. Add finely chopped onion. And fine shev. Serve and enjoy watching your guests gulp it down! Unfortunately, don't have a picture of the final dish!

Chole



Prepared chole yesterday evening.  Inspired from Punjabi Chole with my tweaks of course!

Ingredients:

1.5 cup kabuli chana
2 chopped onions
2 chopped tomatoes
1 tea spoon grated ginger
2 green chilies slit vertically
2 bay leaves
2 small cinnamon sticks.
Bunch of coriander for garnishing.





Method:

1) Soak the chana for at least 7-8 hours. Pressure cook in cooker (3 cooker whistles)


2) Heat 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks.  Add the ginger and green chilies.

3) Add the onions. Fry till transparent.

4) Add a pinch of haldi powder and fry. Add the chopped tomatoes.


5) Fry till the oil separates. Add the boiled chole.

6) Add ready made Everest Chole masala (2 tea spoons). Add chili powder and salt as per taste. Add the coriander for garnishing.