.....From My Palate

Bhawana

Glimpse of my favourite Color……

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I never used to like saag before my marriage. Mom always had a tough time when ever she made (no matter how tempting it sound) Makke ki Roti aur Sarson ka Saag. After Marriage I slowly discovered Vegetables, fruits or matter of fact “everything” I hated all these years. Everything I hated have special likeness in my Hubby’s life. I started with ” I’ll cook it for You” and ended up liking everything I hated before. ( Credit goes to my laziness for not to cook for myself)
Now, Karela, baigun, saag, beans ……….I can eat anything, not just eat I really like them.(Setting a good example for my son ;-)) And my parents are happy too.
Sarson Ka Saag
1 Bunch Sarson (Mustard Green) – Washed
1 Bunch Palak (Spinach) – Washed
1 Big Onion – Finely Chopped
Ginger- Garlic – Finely Chopped
1 Green Chili – Chopped
1 Tomato – Finely chopped
2 tbsp Makki ka Atta
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Turmeric Pd
Red Chili Pd or whole Dried Red Chili – Acc.to taste
1/2 tsp Amchoor Pd
Mix the greens and boil in enough water for 3-5 minutes. (Try not to cover while boiling to retain green color ) Let it cool down for some time before grinding it in to smooth paste.
Heat oil/ghee/butter in a pan and add ginger-garlic, green chili and onion. Fry onion until soft and then add makki ka atta.
Fry it at least for a minute on medium flame and add tomato and rest of the masalas. Mix it well and fry till the oil separates from the gravy. Now its time to add pureed greens, mix it well and add water if needed. Cook it for 15-20 minutes on low flame. Mix Amchoor pd and serve garma garm with makki ki roti, gur, mirchi ka achar and mint raita.
I garnished it with ginger and cubes of butter.
This recipe goes to Food In Colours started by Sunshinemom and hosted by Sweatha of Curry Leaf FIC-Favourite this month.

My fav. color is green that signifies Life, Nature, Growth and Harmony.

Vegetable Stir-Fry Idlis

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Ingredients

  • 10- left-over or fresh Idlis
  • 1- Sliced Onion
  • 1/2 cup Julienned Carrot
  • 1/2 cup Thinly sliced Green Pepper
  • 1/2 cup finely shredded Cabbage (I used red cabbage for color)
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
  • 2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
  • 1 tsp Hot Sauce
  • salt
  • lemon Juice or chaat Masala (optional)

Method

  • Cut idlis lengthwise.
  • Heat oil in a stir-fry pan and add mustard seeds.
  • When they start to crackle, add vegetables and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes.
  • Add tomato ketchup and hot sauce. Mix it well and cook for few more seconds. (use little bit of water if needed)
  • Add Idlis and salt (use less as tomato ketchup and hot sauce already had some) and toss well until they are well coated with the vegetable & sauce.
  • Avoid hot sauce for kids. Use Kids favorite vegetables for more taste.
  • Serve hot.

Ghiya Chane Ki Dal

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Lauki/Ghiya/Bottle Gourd with chana dal

This dal is easy, quick, light and tastes good with both chapatis and rice. My husband is not very fond of chana dal so I don’t make it that often, but on some lazy days with lot of sunlight this food will make my day.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Chana Dal
  • 1 cup Ghiya/lauki/Bottle Gourd
  • 1 tsp Ginger-grated or crushed
  • 2 Green chillies-chopped
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric pd
  • 2 tsp Ghee
  • 3/4 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • Pinch of Hing/Asafetida powder
  • 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Pd
  • 1/2 tsp Amchoor Pd
  • Pinch of Garam Masala PdFinely Chopped Coriander Leaves

Method

  • Wash and soak Chana dal for at least 15 minutes or more.
  • Peel, wash and cut lauki in to small cubes.
  • Pressure cook dal with lauki, turmeric pd, salt, green chillies, ginger and 1 and 1/2 cup of water. Cook it till the dal is soft and done.
  • Heat ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds when they start to crackle, add hing and chilli pd.
  • Add boiled dal in it. Mix it well
  • Add water if needed. give it a boil and add amchoor pd and garam masala.
  • Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.
  • Serve hot with rice or chapatis.

Gobi Matar Tawa-Fry

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Gobi Matar Tawa-Fry

Its a simple classic dish, cooking time very less, easy to make and tastes really good with chapatis and yogurt. Its one of my handy-dish, which never fails to charm.

Ingredients

  • 1 Cauliflower, chopped in to bite-sized florets
  • 1 1/2 cup Peas, fresh shelled or frozen
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp coriander pd
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric pd
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp aamchoor/mango pd
  • 2 green chillies, chopped

Method

  • Heat oil in a flat-bottom pan.
  • Add cumin seeds, when they start to crackle add coriander pd, turmeric pd, garam masala and chopped green chillies.
  • Mix and stir for few seconds and add cauliflower and peas.
  • Add salt and mix it well so that cauliflower and peas are well-coated with the spices.
  • Cook it uncovered on medium-high flame until cauliflower is light brown in color. (this helps cauliflower to stay crunchy).
  • Now add 2 tbsp of water, cover and cook it until they both are cooked.
  • Sprinkle mango pd and chopped coriander leaves at the end before serving
  • Most of the time I make this dish without onion, garlic and tomatoes to get the real taste of vegetables with spices.

Gobi matar is really excited for attending 2 events going on-

WYF: Side Dish Event hosted by Simple Indian Food

Thank you EC and Mahima.

Talking About Dhania/Cilantro

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If you really wanted to eat chat-pata, crunchy, Kuch Chat ya Pakoda,  this sure thing you definitely needed to complete the recipe.
And that is our humblest Dhania chutney/Hari Chutney
Ingredients
  • 1  bunch fresh Dhania/coriander/Cilantro
  • 1/2  bunch Mint
  • 1/2  Green Mango
  • 3  Green chillies
  • 1/2  tsp  Cumin seeds
  • 2  tsp Sugar
  • Salt and lemon juice as per taste
(can add onion, garlic or ginger too )
Method
  • Wash and clean mint and coriander leaves. (use soft/upper stems of green coriander for extra taste)
  • Mix coriander, mint, roughly chopped green mango, green chillies, cumin seeds, sugar and salt in a blender.
  • Grind them until it becomes in to smooth paste.
  • Use limited amount of water as needed.
  • Add lemon juice and mix well.
  • Taste it and adjust the sweetness and sourness as per your taste.
  • Green Chutney is ready for a ride.
Dhania is one of the most commonly and widely used herb in Indian Kitchen. This is my favourite garnish and an essential ingredient in my refrigerator.
These are the few dishes I made with our friendly Dhania.

Pani-Puri Ka Pani—————– Dhania Aloo

Dhania Dosa—————– Moong-Dal Chila Chaat

But I think Dhania-chutney is a recipe that is fit for JFI-Cilantro hosted by Cilantro.

Thank you Cilantro and Indira-Mahanandi for starting it.

Rest of the recipes are coming soon.
Enjoy good weather.

Do You Have A Sweet Tooth !?

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Nariyal Burfi & Pethe Ke Ladoo

I made these sweets on Ashtami/Ramnavmi but due to busy schedule didn’t get time to post the recipes. First one is Pethe ke ladoo and the other is Nariyal Burfi. They both comes out really good this time.(Believe me! I’m not lucky with sweets everytime) I have a sweet tooth, so when I got mail about Methai Mela from Dear Sri I can’t wait, any longer and wanted to share my recipes to make this mela more sweeter.
This one is Nariyal Burfi/Coconut Fudge. This is my favourite Burfi and all the credit for the sweetness and goodness goes to Popular Saffron-Saffron Hut
Her Recipe for coconut burfi is super good. I made this fudge many times but still my squares are not as good as hers. I don’t know why you stopped blogging Saffron I want to thank you, for all your wonderful work.
Do try this sweet it will make the occasion more sweeter.
You will enjoy this fudge in every bite of it.
Thank U Saffron

Now its time for next recipe.
Pethe Ke Ladoo
I’m sure you all must have heard about popular Agra ka Petha. I know Petha itself is so good you can’t even think of doing anything else with it. But back home I used to make these ladoo with my Mom that gave petha altogether a different taste. I’m a Coconut lover so I love anything with coconut.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Grated Petha (agra ka petha)
  • 1/2 cup Roasted Khoya
  • 1 cup Desiccated Coconut
  • 1/2 tsp Cardamom Pd
  • Tutti frutti and extra D-Coconut for garnishing.

Method

  • Mix above first four ingredients very well.
  • If you find the mixture sticky can add more Coconut or Khoya according to the taste.
  • Once the mixture is smooth make ladoos out of it.
  • Roll the ladoo in the extra D-coconut and give it a color with the garnishing of ur choice.
  • You can use nuts, dried fruits, tutti fruiti or wear ur thinking caps and give me more options.


I love this sweet out of sweet, do let me know what u think of it ?

Thank U Srivalli for hosting Mithai Mela Its a nice timing for my recipes.


Just want to make sure I’m not disappointing You 🙂
Thanks again, Srivalli.

Just For Kiddos….

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Mother’s biggest concern is cooking for their kids that is nutritious and up to their taste. The term “fussy Kid” is as terrifying as a monster. My 25 months old son is not a fussy kid but prefer nicely served food. For the Breakfast if I gave him Scrambled eggs, he wants “Bana” banana slices along with it. Sometimes I marvel on his ability to think and remember things at this age. In this post I would like to share some of my son’s favorite things-

Anytime Favorite – Instant food

Shell Pasta with Mango and Grapes.

 

1/2 cup Small Vegetable Shells – I used Eden Organic whole grain
Cook pasta as required, rinse, drain and set aside.
1/2 cup Pasta Sauce
Italian Seasoning as per taste
2 tbsp Heavy cream
1/2 cup Sauted Vegetables
Salt and pepper as per taste

 

Warm up the pasta sauce and mix all the other ingredients and its ready to serve.

Breakfast Time-

Scrambled Egg with Banana Slices

Egg
Oil
Salt and Pepper
Banana Slices

 

Heat pan with few drops of oil. Whisk the egg with salt and pepper. Add the egg mixture in the pan. Break apart egg in to pieces, and cook it for 10-15 seconds. (My son prefers dry scrambled egg so sometimes I cook it for little longer time).
Serve Hot with Bread.

 

Lunch Time-

Dal Paratha with yogurt and Orange slices.

 

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Left-over Dal or dal cooked with salt and turmeric
Oil For Cooking

Combine Left-over dal or cooked dal in the W.Wheat flour and knead in to smooth and soft dough with the help of enough water.Divide the dough in to equal portions. Roll out each portion in to circle or shape of your choice. Cook it in a skillet with little oil on medium heat until you see brown spot on both sides.

Dinner Time-

Egg curry with curried rice and Tomato Onion Raita

I’ve already posted this recipe Here and it goes to Cooking For Kids: Rice Event Hosted by Trupti-Recipe Center and started by Sharmi-Neivedyam.

Thank You Trupti and Sharmi.

And it looks like this post is also appropriate for Monthly Mingle Kids Lunches hosted by Cooking 4 all Seasons and launched by Meeta- What’s for Lunch Honey?

Thank Srivalli and Meeta.

All Mom’s are looking forward for the Round-up!

Think Pink – Strawberry Lassi

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Strawberry Lassi

Ingredients

  • 10-15 big fresh strawberries, trimmed and halves
  • 3 tbsp Sugar
  • 2 cups plain yogurt (whole-milk or low-fat)
  • 1 cup ice cubes/cold water
  • Pistachios for garnishing

Method

  • Puree strawberries with sugar in a blender until smooth.
  • Add yogurt and ice, then blend it again.
  • Serve chilled.

I’ve already posted strawberry lassi Here so withdrawing my name from the event but Lets welcome summer !!! with this post.

Mera Lucknowi Andaz………

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Ever since I heard about RCI-Lucknow, I wanted to participate in this event. I wanted to represent my state with my fellow blogger. Lucknow cuisine is all about variety, but living in this part of world (U.S) where 2 people is a family, it is not at all motivating to cook this much of food for one time meal. But I totally believe in- If there is a will, there will be a way. So I cooked, I clicked and happily waited for my husband for a big surprise. I lit some candles and ate food in totally Nawabi Style.So here I present My Lucknowi Andaz….-:-)

I made – Bathue Ka Raita, Aloo Wadi, Shahi Paneer, Muglai Chawal, Hari Pyaz Aloo ki Sabji, Ajwain ka Tikona Paratha with Mirchi ka Achar, Aam ka Mitha Achar and Papad.
Lucknowi food is no food without Mango. Dusshari thats the variety very popular in U.P. Last but not least no meal is complete with out Mukhwas (Mouth-Freshener) and most popularly Paan in lucknow.
Let’s start with Bathue Ka Raita and Aloo Wadi –
Bathua in hindi, I searched on net and these are the other names for it.
Common name: Fat Hen, Lamb’s-quarters, Pigweed, Bathua बथुआ (Hindi), Paruppukkirai (Tamil), Chandanbethu (Bengali), Vastukah (Sanskrit), Bathua (Oriya), Kaduoma (Kannada), Pappukura (Telugu), Vastuccira (Malayalam), Chakvit (Konkani)
Bathue Ka Raita
  • 1/2 cup Bathua Blanched and grinded
  • 1 cup Yogurt
  • Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Hing (Asafetida)
  • 1/2tsp Roasted Jeera Pd  (Cumin Seeds)
  • Chat Masala (optional)
  • Red Chili Pd To taste
Method
  • Whisk yogurt until smooth (add water if needed)
  • Mix salt and Bathua.
  • Heat few drops of oil in a very small pan, add cumin seeds.
  • When they start to crackle add hing. Add this in to the yogurt.
  • Serve cold.
Aloo Wadi here I posted it earlier in my post.
Shahi Paneer and Mughlai Chawal
Shahi Paneer
  • 2 cups cubed Paneer
  • 1 big onion Chopped
  • 4 cloves Garlic (Garlic in US is quite big add more in India)
  • 1 green Chili
  • 4 tbsp Crushed Tomatoes or 2 chopped Tomatoes
  • 15 Cashewnuts soaked in 1 cup of milk
  • 1/2tsp Haldi  (turmeric)
  • 1/2tsp Garam masala pd
  • 1/2tsp Kitchen king Masala
  • 1/2tsp Jeera (Cumin seeds)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt to taste
  • 3tsp  Oil
Method
  • Heat 2 tsp of oil, add cumin seeds, onions, garlic, chilies and fry until onions are light brown in color.
  • Once it cool down grind it in to smooth paste with tomatoes, cashew nuts and milk.
  • Heat 1 tsp of oil in the same pan, add bay leaves and the tomato paste in the pan.
  • Fry it for some time (add little water if needed) until you can see some oil on the surface.
  • Add all masalas and 1 cup of water.
  • Give it a boil and cook for 8 minutes.
  • Add paneer cubes in it.
  • Cover it and cook it for 2 minutes on low flame.(Keep stirring in between and add more water if the gravy is thicker for your taste)
  • Serve Hot with a garnishing of your choice.
Mughlai Chawal
  • 1 cup Basmati Rice
  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • Saffron soaked in warm milk
  • Fried Cashewnuts
  • Raisins
  • Dried Cranberries
  • 1/4 cup Coconut Pd
  • 4-5 cloves
  • 2 star aniseeds
  • 1/2 tsp Elachi Pd
  • 1 tbsp Ghee
  • Method
  • Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan.
  • Add cloves, star aniseeds, cardamom pd and rice in it.
  • Mix it well and add water and cook until rice is half done.
  • Now add sugar, raisins, cranberries, coconut pd cashew nuts and saffron milk in it.
  • Cover and cook it until rice is fully done.
Hari Pyaaz Aloo Ki Sabji

Hari Pyaaz Aloo Ki Sabji

  • 1 cup Chopped Hari Pyaaz/Scallion
  • 2 Potatoes Cubed
  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 1 1/2 tsp Coriandar Pd
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric Pd
  • 1/2 tsp Chili Pd, Salt
Method
  • Heat oil In a pan and add cumin seeds.
  • When they start to crackle add all the masalas excluding amchoor pd.
  • Stir it for 20 seconds and add pyaaz and aloo.
  • Mix well, add salt little bit of water, cover and cook until it is done.
  • Serve hot sprinkled with amchoor pd.
Lastly its Mango and Mukhwas.
Mukhwas – Khatta Mittha Dried Aam, Silvered Fennel Seeds, Khatta Khajoor, Coloured Mukhwas and my favourite Aam Papad.

Well its one long post – and it is for RCI-Lucknow Cuisine Event hosted by Dear Lavanya’s Home Cook Recipes and brain child of Lakshmi’s Veggie Cuisine.

Thank You Lavanya, Thank You Lakshmi.

Devi Navratris are starting from tomorrow, So no non-veg, eggs, onion, garlic for 9 days. Happy Navratis to all of you.