Panchkadaayi

A very simple recipe usually offered as Naivedyam/Offering to God during pujas.

Ingredients:

Putani/Dalia/Roasted gram/Hurigadale - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 to 1 cup
Cardamom/Elaichi - 2
White Til/ White Sesame seeds - 2 tsps
Grated coconut (optional) - 2 tsps ( I did not add coconut)

Method:

- Dry roast the sesame seeds and keep aside.
- Powder the putani, sugar and elaichi seeds together in a mixie jar. Should be fine powder.
- Take out the powder in a bowl, mix with roasted sesame seeds and grated coconut. Ready to offer.

Panasa Bhakri/Jackfruit Dosa

This is a breakfast item made from jackfruit flesh/pulp. This dosa comes out best with tilvo panas (the soft slimy variety of jackfruit). This dosa is different than the regular ones in that its thick and sweet and does not really need a side/chutney. Its a common dish in konkani homes. Its very quick and easy to make provided you have jackfruit on hand.

Ingredients

Jackfruit slices (without seeds) - 1 cup
Fine Rava/Semolina - 1 cup
Fresh grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Grated Jaggery - 1/4 cup
Wheat flour - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - to fry

Method
1. Blend the jackfruit slices (flesh) and the jaggery together in a mixie.
2. To the above blended mixture, add coconut, rava, salt, wheat flour and mix well. Add water to adjust this batter to a thick consistency.
3. Let the mixture rest for about 15 mins.
4. On a heated cast iron tava with low flame, spread little oil and pour a ladle full of the batter. Spread into a thick circle. Put a few drops of oil on the top of the mixture only.
5. Once the top side looks slightly dry, turn the bhakri/dosa over and cook the other side on medium high flame for few minutes only.
6. For all remaining dosas, no need to grease tava again with oil. Directly pour and spread batter and pour few drops only on the spread batter.
7. Serve hot with ghee/chutney powder/coconut chutney. This can be eaten without a side actually and does not need anything else.

Note:
1. Both sides of the dosa should not brown too much.
2. Wheat flour can be omitted totally. Wheat flour helps bind and avoids the dosa from breaking so is used.
3. This batter should not be runny. It should be thicker than dosa batter.
4. To store jackfruit slices for a later time, boil the jackfruit slices with jaggery. To do this, you need to keep stirring, else it will stick to the bottom of the pan. Once the whole mixture boils and forms a syrupy consistency, switch off the heat. Cool this mixture and store in air tight container in freezer. Thaw when ready to use. If using this, blend the thawed mixture alone with very little jaggery only.

Chicken Curry-1

This recipe was in the drafts from a very very long time. It uses kolhapuri masala which Meera of EnjoyIndianFood had sent to me at that time :)...

Ingredients

Green Bell Peppers - 1, diced
Boneless chicken pieces - 1/2 lb.
Onions, sliced - 1 big
Tomato, pureed - 1 big
Curry leaves - 4
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Whole Garam Masala - 1 inch piece Cinnamon, 3 green Cardamoms, 2 bay leaves, 4 cloves, 5 black peppercorns
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Fresh/Frozen grated coconut - 1 tbsp
Kolhapuri Masala - 1 1/2 tsp
Cilantro - a few sprigs, chopped
Salt -to taste
Oil

Method

- Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, curry leaves and the whole garam masala. Once they sizzle, add the onions and fry till light brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell goes away.
- Add the tomato puree and fry till oil starts oozing out. Add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder, kolhapuri masala and salt and mix well.
- Add the chicken pieces, grated coconut and the bell pepper pieces and mix everything together. Add 1/2 cup of water, cover and cook on medium flame with occassional stirring till done.
- Add chopped cilantro and serve hot with rotis or rice.

Chicken Cutlets

First post after a long hiatus of not days but years :)...

Today's recipe is of Chicken Cutlets that I tried yesterday and came out pretty good, so here goes...

Ingredients

Boneless Chicken cut into small chunks - 500 gms approx.
Potatoes, boiled peeled and mashed - 3 small
Egg - 1
Cilantro - 1/2 cup
Mint - 1/4 cup or lesser if you dont like the taste
Long Green Chillies - 3 or as per taste
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 3 cloves
Red Onion chopped fine - 1 big
Fennel Seeds/Saunf - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon Sticks - 1/2 inch
Cloves - 4
Black Pepper corns - 10-12
Jeera/Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Dhania/Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or more
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
Chaat Masala (optional)- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

Method

1. Marinate the cut chicken pieces with salt and red chilli powder for about 30 minutes. Then pressure cook this chicken with little water for 1 whistle.
2. Once cooled break/chop the chicken into smaller pieces and pulse in mixer till it gets minced. Do not use any of the water from the boiled chicken.
3. Grind the ginger, garlic, green chillies, cinnamon sticks, cloves, pepper corns, fennel seeds, a few of the coriander leaves together without adding any water.
4. Now mix the minced chicken, mashed potatoes, the ground mixture above, chopped onions, remaining cilantro, mint, garam masala, chaat masala, turmeric powder and salt and mix.
5. Add one raw egg to the above and mix well. It should be quite a dry mixture. If you feel its too sticky, add a few bread crumbs to it and mix.
6. Take a little mixture at a time, shape into cutlets, roll in the bread crumbs and deep fry in oil.
7. Serve hot with ketchup or hot sauce.

Notes: More vegetables like grated carrot, capsicum, cabbage can be added for different variations.

Bimbla Nonche/Pickle

I have a weakness for pickles, and more-so when they are home made. This pickle made out of Bimbal is one of my favourites and I love this one made by my mom. These are pictures and recipe I took when mom made it during my last visit.

The recipe involves the regular pickle seasonings, but there's something in the way each one makes them.
We use this Bimbal fruit/veggie very widely in our cooking, in gravies and pickles. Its a sour fruit and lends the tart/sour base needed in some dals and curries. Read more about Bimbal here.

The fruit has to be very firm when used for this pickle. It will not work even if it gets a little soft when making the pickle. Ofcourse, once you make the pickle, it will soften out slightly.

Ingredients

Bimbal, patted completed dry and cut into small rounds - 2 cups

Til Oil - 2 tsp+4 tsp

Red Chilli pwd - 4 tsp

Methi/Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 3 tsp

Hing - 1/4 tsp

Haldi/Turmeric pwd - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 3 tsp or as you like.

Method

- Warm 2 tsp of oil in a small pan. Add the fenugreek seeds, hing, mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the haldi, black pepper, red chilli pwd and 3 tsp salt. Take off from heat. Once this cools, grind all together in a mixie.

- Add the cut Bimbal pieces to this masala, add the other 4 tsp of oil, mix everything well and keep in airtight bottle. It will be ready to eat the next day.

Note:

- The shelf life of this pickle is very little.

- It will last a few extra days if kept in the refrigerator.
- The pickle will ooze out moisture the next day and won't be as dry as when you first mix it.

Also, check out the Bimbla Nonche recipe at Shilpa's.

Tambdi bhajji randayi

One of the most common curries/gravies made in a Konkani home, is this Tambdi Bhaji randayi, ofcourse when available.

The red amaranth leaves are not only tasty and make a wholesome gravy, but also lend a very nice reddish color to the dish. Both the leaves and the tender stems are used in the cooking. Many different combinations can also be made of this randayi/gravy, but here is the most common one.

In the picture above, you will see Vadi's also as part of the gravy. These vadis are sundried items which normally make a great addition to this randayi and some other gravies also.

So, here is the recipe for this dish..

Ingredients

Red Amaranth Leaves, chopped fine - 3 cups

Toor Dal - 1/4 cup

Vadi - 5 pieces

Fresh/Frozen grated coconut - 1 cup

Red Chillies - 5

Tamarind - a small 1/2 inch piece

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Haldi/Turmeric pwd - a pinch

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - to temper

Salt - to taste

Method

- Cook the greens with the dal and enough water for 3 whistles in pressure cooker.

- Grind a masala by combining the Coconut, haldi, red chillies, tamarind, coriander seeds and water to make a fine masala.

- Once pressure subsides from the cooker, take the greens with dal in a pan and cook it with the ground coconut masala till the rawness from the masala goes away. Add water and cook to adjust the consistency.

- In a separate small pan, heat little oil, add the mustard seeds, once the splutter, move them to the side and fry the vadis also in the same oil. Then add this tempering to the pan with cooked greens.

- Dish is ready.

Note :

- The vadis in the dish are optional but one of the ways we normally make the dish with.

- If you are not using the Vadis in the tempering, then temper the dish with mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves and dry red chillies.

Green peas roti

Wishing all the readers a Happy new year! Yes, a very belated one, but hope you guys are having a great start to the year.
Today, am sharing a simple green peas roti which I had prepared a long time ago. Its very simple and here it it..

Ingredients
Green peas - 1 cup
Wheat flour - 2 cups
Cilantro - 1/4 cup
Jeera/ cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - 3
Salt - to taste

Method

Grind the thawed/fresh peas with cilantro, green chillies, jeera and salt.
Make a tight dough with the flour, adding water as needed.
Keep aside for 10 mins.
Then roll into rotis and fry with oil/ghee.

Serve with chutney or curry of your choice.

Fish Paatio/Patia

After making the Maacchi Pulao, I had actually picked out a list of things to be tried for Parsi Cuisine, hosted by dear Meera of Enjoy Indian Food, for 'RCI-Parsi Cuisine'. However, it shows clearly I wasn't able to do any of it. I just got to one dish and sharing it here, which is also late, but thanks Meera for accepting it.

I had frozen Salmon fillets and so decided to make another fish item again. The pictures of the Patio/Patia looked really mouthwatering everywhere that I looked. So, decided to go with it and this is the source of the original recipe.

The dish is called Fish Paatio and I must say, tastes very good and doesn't take much time to make.

I am writing down the quantities that I used and the method for future reference.

Ingredients

To Grind into paste
2 - dried red chiles

2 - cloves garlic

1 - tsp cumin seeds/jeera

1/4 - tsp turmeric pwd

You also need (for the Ragout)

1/2 lb. -Fish fillets

1/4 - tsp red chilli pwd

1/4 - tsp turmeric pwd

1 tbsp - oil

2 - green chillies, slit to the stem

1 - small onion, finely chopped

1 -large ripe tomato, chopped

1/2 cup - (loosely packed) coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves and stems

Salt to taste

1 tbsp - jaggery or brown sugar

1/2 tbsp tamarind pulp or lime juice

Method

For the masala:

- Grind the red chillies, garlic, cumin, and turmeric together into a paste (or see the note below).

To make the ragout:

- Rub the fish with the chilly powder, turmeric and little salt.

- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the green chillies, allow to sizzle for a moment, and follow with the onions. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden.

- Add the masala paste and stir over moderate heat until the aroma rises. Add the tomatoes and the fresh coriander. Cook over low heat till its pulpy.

- Add salt to taste, the jaggery, and tamarind/lime juice to get a good sweet-sour balance, adjusting all as needed.
- Fry the fish separately on a tawa in as little oil as possible until tender. Add to the onion and tomato mixture. Cook together just enough to heat through and they all come together.

Note:

- If you haven’t got a grinder, you can still make patia masala in a food processor or blender. Pound the cumin seeds first in a sturdy mortar or pulverize them in a spice grinder, then add them to the food processor bowl along with the garlic, chopped first to make grinding easier, 1 to 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, and the turmeric. Dribble in just enough water to turn the mixture into a paste.

- I used Salmon fillets and cut them into slightly bigger chunks.

Recipe Credits : http://www.parsicuisine.com/DhanDarPatio.html

So, off this goes to 'RCI-Parsi Cuisine', hosted by Meera of EnjoyIndianFood.

Regional Cuisine of India- RCI is the brainchild of Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine.

P.S: Please excuse my photograph, I took this from the cell phone as my camera is broken.

Maachi/Fish Pulao - Parsi Cuisine

Its the first time that I actually made something related to Parsi Cuisine, and that too I tried a hand since its dear Meera of Enjoy Indian Food, who's hosting her first event 'RCI-Parsi Cuisine'.

I was very happy with the outcome of this Pulao and best of all, its super easy and fast to make. I know for sure what to do with rice and fish next time. So, do try it.

I looked up in the links provided by Meera and here is the original recipe and the source for my dish. I have used Salmon fillets for this pulao.

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1 1/2 cups

Fish - 3 large fillets ( I used Salmon)

Green chillies,chopped - 3

Onions, sliced finely - 2 big

Cinnamon sticks - 1 inch piece

Green Cardamoms - 3

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Tomatoes, skinned and chopped - 1 large

Garlic cloves, ground - 2- 3 cloves

Cloves - 4

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Cilantro - 1/4 cup

Salt- to taste

Oil

Method

- Fry the onions golden brown. Remove about 2 onions for later use. In the remaining onions, add in chopped coriander, green chillies, garlic and turmeric allowing it to cook for a few minutes. - Add in chopped tomatoes, cook till pulpy, and then add in the fish pieces with about 4 cups of water. When the fish is nearly done, add chilli powder and sugar and allow to simmer till about 1/2 cup of gravy is remaining.

- In the meantime, boil the rice with salt, removing when half done. Drain off the water and cool.

- In a pan put the reserved fried onions with oil, on a slow fire and add in cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom and cummin seed which have been pounded slightly. Allow to simmer for a few minutes and remove off the fire.
- In a large pan, spread half the rice and layer with fish, fried onions with garam masala, fish gravy and then lastly another layer of rice which has been infused with saffron, topping it with very hot oil. Cover the pan and cook on a low fire for atleast 10 minutes. Mix all the palao together, cover and cook till rice is done.

Note :

- I used Salmon fillets and cut them into slightly bigger chunks.

- I have not used Saffron.

So, off this goes to Meera's 'RCI-Parsi Cuisine'. Wishing you great success in your first event Meera !

Regional Cuisine of India- RCI is the brainchild of Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine.

Kadagi Saung / Breadfruit side dish

Saung (pronounced as song), is a very typical item in the Konkani cuisine. Its a spicy dish, bright red in color, great in taste and easy to make. Many different vegetables can be used to make Saung. This is a picture I took from what Mom had made back home.

What I have here today is of Breadfruit/Kadagi. For more on Breadfruit, see this post.

Ingredients

Kadagi/Breadfruit, cleaned & cut into small wedges - 4 cups

Onions, diced abt 1/2 inch size - 2 cups

Garlic, chopped - 5-6 cloves

Teppal/Sichuan peppers - 4-5

Tamarind pulp- from a marble sized ball

Red Chilli powder - 4 tsps or less

Haldi powder - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method

- Mix the Tamarind pulp, salt, red chilli pwd, with very little water in a small bowl and keep aside.

- Heat about a tbsp of oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic and saute just till the onions are just transparent.

- Add the breadfruit pieces and just enough water to cook it. Once tender, add the turmeric pwd, and paste made with tamarind pulp. Slightly crush the Teppal pieces in little water and add it along with the water (abt 2 tsps) and the teppal pieces to the pan.

- Bring to a boil and then its done.

- Serve as a side with rice and dal or any other curry.

Note :

- The breadfruit slices cook very fast, so don't add too much water.
- It should be a dry dish, so no water should be present when done.

Happy Diwali !

Wishing one and all a very happy, prosperous and safe Diwali !!!

Have a great one !!!

Chettinad Chicken

A very well-known dish and loved by many. Am sure there will be many ways one prepares this, and I have to try many of them too. This recipe I have been following is from and I have tried it both with and without coconut, I must say they both taste great, but my personal favorite is the one which uses coconut.


You can view the original recipe here.


This is what I have followed.


Ingredients


Chicken - 2 1/2 lbs.
Poppy seeds/khuskhus - 2 tsp
Fennel seeds/Saunf/Badishep - 1 tsp
Coriander seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 5 - 8 nos. I used 5
Grated coconut - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Ginger(chopped) - 2 tsp
Garlic(chopped) - 2 tsp
Tomatoes(medium) - 3 nos(chopped)
Onions(medium) - 2 nos(chopped)
Lemon - 1 no
Cinnamon - 1" stick
Green cardamom - 4 nos
Cloves - 2 - 4 nos
Curry leaves - 10 - 15 nos
Chopped Cilantro - to garnish
Oil
Salt - to taste

Method

- Cut the chicken into small pieces.
- Roast the red chillies, grated coconut, poppy seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and fennel seeds in oil.Grind it to a paste along with ginger and garlic.
- Heat oil in a large pan.Fry onions, till golden. Add curry leaves and the ground paste and saute for some time.
- Add tomatoes, red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Add in the chicken pieces and mix well. Cook for 5 mins, then add 2 cups of water and lemon juice.
- Cover and cook, till the chicken is done.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
- Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Note : Leave out the coconut if you do not want.

- Also you can increase the amount of coconut to about 1/2 cup to get a more thicker gravy.

Kadagi Phodi / Breadfruit fries..

Palpanasa Kadagi or Breadfruit is a loved vegetable( or fruit) in Konkani cuisine. I know of many many people who absolutely love this and none that don't. This may not be a common vegetable but is just extremely tasty and when cooked right, its the melt-in-the-mouth types. If you don't know about it, read here.

In my family, we use it for Phodis ( shallow fries), Baje (deep fries like pakodas), in dry dishes with and without coconut, and gravy based dishes with coconut. Hmm, by far, I love the Phodis best of them all, and couldn't possibly just stop eating until there's no more :)..I strongly recommend everyone to try this atleast once to know what I'm talking about here.

To clean the Breadfruit, you have to peel the outside thick skin, then remove the pith(gheer) from the center. See the collage below. The one that I have here is not the freshest of them all, else they are light greenish in color.



The way you make the Phodis is just like how you make any others. So, here it is..

Ingredients

Breadfruit slices - 12-15
Semolina/Rava - 1/2 cup approx.
Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp or more
Salt - to taste
Oil - to shallow fry

Method

- After removing the outer skin and the pith from the breadfruit, cut it into thick slices as shown in the collage ( approx. 1/4 inches thick).

- Take the slices in a wide bowl, and soak them in water for a few minutes. Then, drain the water and add salt and toss to coat the slices evenly. Keep aside for about 10 minutes.

- When ready to fry, mix the rava and chilli powder, coat the breadfruit slices evenly in it, and start placing each slice evenly on a hot tawa.

- Drizzle oil around and over each slice and cook same way on both sides till done.

- To check if it is done, insert the steel spatula through the slice. It should be soft and go through easily, should not be tough.

- Serve hot as a side with rice and curry/dal.

Check out my other phodis here & here.

Maskasangi Talasani / Drumstick side dish

This is one of my favourites with Drumsticks. Just a simple coconut-pepper combination takes the drumsticks to another level. The drumsticks you use in this should be not too old ones (joon) and stringy, else it doesn't taste good. So select nice small, tender ones. Mom had made this when I visited her this time and here is how its made.



Ingredients

Drumsticks, cut into 2 inch pieces and sliced in half- 2 cups

Freshly crushed black pepper/Pepper powder - 2 tsp. or more

Fresh/frozen grated coconut - 1/4 cup

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method

- Heat about 1 tsp oil in a kadhai/pan. Add mustard seeds and once they splutter, add the cut drumstick pieces, saute for a few seconds, add water just enough to cook the drumsticks. Cover and cook till half-done.

- Add salt, coconut and pepper and mix and cook covered till the drumsticks and fully cooked and tender. Cook uncovered if there is any extra water so that finally the dish is dry.

- Serve as a side dish with rice and curry.

Note : You need more coconut and pepper for this. Skimping on the coconut will not give good results.

- If you don't like pepper, use red chilli powder instead, but the taste is completely different.

Kaccha Avalakki / A Poha recipe...

An excellent snack/breafast item which is very quick to make and easy to carry for long journeys too. The good thing in this the powdered nuts being added. I had seen this in a TV show and accordingly adapted it.

Ingredients

Thin Poha/Beaten rice/Avalakki - 4 cups
Peanuts - 2 tbsp
Putani/Hurigadale/Roasted split chana dal - 2 tbsp
Green chillies, chopped - 3
Grated fresh/frozen coconut - 2 tbsp
Red onion, chopped fine - 1 small
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp or as you prefer.
Salt - to taste
Oil
Cilantro - 1 tbsp or more.
Sev - to garnish, optional.

Method

- Heat little oil in a pan. Fry the peanuts in it, remove from oil. Next, add the Putani, fry and take out. Coarsely powder the peanuts and putani together in a mixie/blender.
- In the same pan, add more oil if needed, once hot, add the mustard seeds. Once they start popping, add the cumin seeds, green chillies, onions, hing, turmeric and salt. Saute for a few seconds and take off from flame and pour in a bowl.
- Add to the mixture the coconut, lemon juice, cilantro and the powdered peanuts and putani and allow to cool.
- Then add the Poha to the above and mix evenly with your hands.
- Garnish with more cilantro, sev and coconut.

Note : If you are carrying this for a journey, you can add the sev just before serving.
- You can eat this with yogurt also.
- Use only the thin variety of Poha in this.

Curd Rice with Pomegranate

Simple, delicious, satisfying, cooling - how well this description fits for a bowl of curd rice. There are oh so many variations you can make of a curd rice, and each and every of them tastes just as good as the other.

This one here uses pomegranate and all I can say is the sweet, sour and the spice, all makes this a good one.

The quantity of the yogurt to use really varies and depends on what type you are using and also how thick or thin you want the consistency to be. Curd rice consistency should be on a denser side and not runny. Also, curd rice is supposed to make atleast a couple of hours before you serve, so that the flavours set in. If the rice turns out to be very sour, you can add a little milk and mix evenly to set the taste rite. If you are travelling for a few hours and carrying curd rice, its a good idea to add a little milk to the prepared curd rice, for it to curdle and be just right when eating.

Ingredients

Cooked rice, slightly mushy and cool- 1 cup

Yogurt/Curd - 3/4 cup or more

Green chillies, chopped - 2

Curry leaves - 4-5

Udad dal - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Hing/Asafoetida - a generous pinch

Grated ginger - 1 tsp

Pomegranate - 1/2 cup

Cilantro - a little, chopped

Milk - 1/4 -1/2 cup ( if needed)

Salt - to taste

Oil

Method

- In a small pan, heat a tbsp. of oil and add mustard seeds, when they begin to crackle, add the udad dal, cumin seeds, hing and when slightly browned, add the green chillies, ginger & curry leaves. Pour this mixture on top of the rice.

- Add salt, pomegranate, cilantro and the yogurt to the rice and mix everything evenly. Add more yogurt (and milk) if necessary.

- Ready to serve, but let it rest for about 30 mins and its even better.

- Goes best with some pickle and papads.

Note : Replace green/red halved grapes with pomegranate and its another delicious variation.

Mango Dal..

A few years ago, I tasted this Mango Dal for the first time at a friends place and ever since fell in love with it. I love the use of raw mangoes in curries and dals, but a whole dal based with raw mango, is just pure comfort food for me. I could eat this dal everyday without any complaints and works great for us as my family loves it too..

This is how I make my Mango dal, as adapted from my friends recipe.

Ingredients

Toor dal, cooked and mashed - 1 cup
Raw Mango, cut into chunks - 2 1/2 cups

Chopped onions - 1 cup

Chopped ginger - 1 tsp

Green chillies, slit lengthwise - 4

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Garlic, chopped - 3 cloves

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Curry leaves - 5

Salt - to taste

Oil/ghee

Method

- Cook the mango with the onions, ginger, chillies, turmeric, and salt in about 2 cups of water. Cover and cook till the mango pieces are tender but not mushy.

- Add the cooked dal to the above and add water if needed to make the consistency thick or thin and cook.

- In a separate small pan, heat ghee/oil and add garlic, saute till it turns golden in colour, add the cumin seeds and curry leaves. Pour this seasoning over the dal mixture and keep covered till serving.

- Serve hot with rice.

Back to blogging - and a Milky Marble Cake.

Going back home is always great. The family, food and the whole atmosphere back home is just pure bliss. I stayed for three months, seems long, but I didn't know how time flew. Well, any amount of time feels short when I'm in India, so that's another story. Getting back to routine just feels tougher now, not to mention cooking and cleaning ( well, am home all the time, so that's nothing much rite ??)..

Anyways, I thought let me start blogging. But then, nothing has been happening in the kitchen, so am blogging about something which I had before going on vacation. I don't know the frequency of the posts that will happen here, but I hope to not go missing out of the scene. Ya, reminders and nudges are welcome :)..

Coming to today's recipe, its a Milky Marble Cake which I had made many months back for a friends anniversary. It was something which I had seen in one of the books and had in mind for a long long time. The actual recipe calls for a Madeira cake, but the procedure seemed very lengthy, so I just followed shortcuts which I always do with most of my cakes. I went a little overboard with the marbleing, but this was a first time, so some concession there :).

For the Cake that I made, you will need the following. I have used the store-bought cake mix. All the quantities are rite, except for the chocolate bars, I am just writing down from memory.

Ingredients

Ready Cake Mix (Sponge Cake) - 1 pack plus you will need the eggs, oil and water as mentioned on the pack.
Semi Sweet baking Chocolate/Chocolate chips - 4 oz.
Milk Chocolate Bar ( Hersheys/DairyMilk/any veriety) - 1 bar, approx. 4 oz.
Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp
Lemon Zest - grated from 1 lemon
Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Icing sugar (Confectioners) - 3/4 cup
Toothpick

To make the Marble Cake :
- Prepare the Cake mixture as per the instructions on the back of the pack. Divide this prepared mixture into 2 parts. Keep one as it is and to the second one add about 2 tbsps ( or as per your preferance) of cocoa powder. To adjust the consistency, you can add a little milk and mix it evenly.
- In a greased 9" round cake pan, dusted with some flour and lined with a parchment paper cut out to round shape, pour in alternate spoonfuls of the plain mixture and the chocolate mixture.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 325deg F till done or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Take out and cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, I like to place it on the serving plate, so that you don't need to shift again.
- Next is to make the Chocolate curls. You will need 3oz. of the chocolate bar, make curls using a peeler. Spread out the curls on a thick sheet of paper.
- Melt the remaining chocolate and set 2 tbsps. aside. Spread the rest of the melted chocolate around the sides of the cake.

- While the chocolate is still soft, coat the sides of the cake in chocolate curls. Do this gently by slightly tilting the cake on one side and rolling the curls on it. Do not press heavily.
- Next is to make the Glace. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and mix the sugar evenly to form a glace of the consistency of pouring cream. Spoon this icing onto the top of the cake evenly and spread to the edge.

- Drizzle the reserved 2 tbsps. of the melted chocolate over the icing. While still soft, run the tip of a toothpick through the chocolate and icing to create the marble effect. And its ready...

- The inside of the cake looked like this picture below..

Blogging break...

Dear Blogger friends and visitors, I am going on a break for sometime now, as I am travelling to India on vacation :). Can't wait to get home and meet family and relatives and friends and catch up with a whole lot of things..

I will resume blogging probably mid-August. Until then, here's wishing you all good times and a great summer :)..Have fun and happy blogging...

Chana Usli with Carrots & Zucchini..

Well, this dish was just born out of nowhere. All three of us love Uslis/Stir-fries with beans, legumes and I just when making the regular Chana Usli, I thought why not add in some carrots and zucchini to get the juicy factor in it and not let it be dry, since I was out of coconut. Tasted good I thought, and the addition of these veggies kept it moist and juicy. So here goes..

Ingredients

Black Chickpeas/Kala Chana - 1 cup, soaked overnite or in hot water for atleast 2 hrs.
Carrot, grated - 1 cup
Zucchini, grated - 1 cup

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Jeera/cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Green Chillies, slit lengthwise - 2 or 3
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry leaves - 4-5
Juice of half lemon or more.
Salt - to taste

Cilantro, chopped - to garnish

- Pressure cook the chickpeas with salt and little water for 1 whistle or until cooked. Keep aside till pressure subsides from the cooker.

- Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and once they crackle, add the cumin seeds, hing, green chillies, and curry leaves.

- Then add in the chana with very little water, let it cook it the water evaporates.

- Add in the grated zucchini and carrot, mix well, switch off the flame, and cover the pan and keep for about 5 mins.

- Pour in the lemon juice and garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot as a side with rice and curry or just as an evening snack.