Sabudaana Khichdi!!

Weekend is approaching! How about cooking something Hatke!  Posting below a recipe for  Sabudaana Khichdi - This is often made at my home as a fast(vrath) food.

Preparation Time: 15 Min

Servings:4

Ingredients:

Sabudana:  3 cups

Potatoes: 1 (diced into very small cubes)

Kheera(cucumber):  1

Tomato: 1 (optional)

Lemon Juice: 1 table spoon

Zeera: 2 teaspoon

Ground Nut Powder: 1/2 cup

Ghee or oil for seasoning - 2 tablespoons

Green Chillies: 3 slit length wise

Salt as per taste (use minimum)

Sugar - a pinch

Process:

1) Soak sabudaana in water, drain it and keep it aside for 2 hours. (After 2 hours you can feel the softness)

2) Add ground nut powder, salt, and sugar to the softened sabudaana and mix it thoroughly.

3) For seasoning heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a Kadai and add zeera.As it splutters add Greenchillies.

4) Now add the diced potatoes, kheera, tomato mix it thoroughly, cover it and cook on medium flame for 2-3 min

5) As the potatoes and kheera get tender (do not overcook), add the sabudaana mixture (step 2) in the kadai and mix it thoroughly. Add lemon juice and adjust salt

6)  Add the remaining 1 tbspoon Ghee to the Khichdi now, mix it and cook it covered for 2 more minutes.

Serve hot with Yoghurt or lemon pickle.

Note: the Sabudaana mixture prepared in step 2 can also be used for making sabudaana wada...Just add boiled and mashed potato, green chilli paste ....make small cakes of this mixture and deep fry in oil and enjoy the crispy sabudaana wada with Tomato sauce as a snack at your tea time!

Vangecha Bharith - Baigan ka Bhartha!!

Brinjals and Potatoes have always been my favourite veggies.... Each one of us have a different style of cooking the Brinjal curry... be it to be the delicious Brinjal masala curry served with Jowar Roti by my Mother In law or the stuffed Brinjal masala made by my mother ...they are irresistible! You'll find more such Brinjal delicacies in the coming posts!
For now, I'm posting a recipe for Baigan Bhartha....It's one of the favourite side dishes in our family.

Ingredients:

Brinjals : 2 -3 Big Sized
Onion - 1 Large (chopped)
Dhania Powder - 2 teaspoons
Zeera Powder- 1 tea spoon
Mirchi powder- 2-3 teaspoons as per your tatse
Sugar - a pinch
Chopped Coriander - 1 tablespoon

Seasoning:
Mustard Seeds - 1 tea spoon
Zeera- 1 tea spoon
Turmeric- a pinch
Asafoetida- a pinch
curry Leaves- 4-5

Method:

1)Apply oil to the Brinjals and fry it on the stove till they turn black from all sides...you can see the peel coming out easily. Allow it to cool
2) Peel off the burnt part of the Brinjal and smash it thoroughly with your fingers till they become like a soft dough
3) Add Dhania Powder, Zeera Powder, Salt, Mirchi Powder, sugar, coriander to the mashed Brinjal.
4) Mix it properly and add the onions to the Bhartha.
5) Last but not the least...The Seasoning!

For Seasoning:  Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds, zeera, a pinch of turmeric,Asafoetida and let them splutter then add Curry leaves

Give this Tadka to the Bhartha prepared above.....

Serve with Jowar ki roti , Chapati, steamed rice...

Let me know your comments on this!

Ayushyavar Bolu Kahi - A show to remember!

Attended a wonderful Marathi program by Salil Kulkarni and Sandeep Khare on Sunday!!... 'Aushyavar Bolu Kahi' - let me speak a few words on the chapter Life!' It was such a splendid performance that I'll surely fall short of words to express the great feeling.
It was  a mixture of humour, tears,joy and happiness. Music has a magical way of feeling the world with wonders!
Amongst the songs performed in the program, there were 2 songs I liked the most.
1)'Door Deshi Gela Baba'  -  this is an expression from a kid who sees his father and mother go to work and his feelings of being alone and a lonely childhood... it was a touching movement in the theatre.....Sachin and I could only imagine our chikoo and tears rolled down my cheeks as we heard every word of that song

2) Yet another emotional song where a father expresses his helplessness of his heavy workload and always returned home only after his daughter was fast asleep....Salil expressed it so well in his song that it was a heavy movement for all of us sitting in the show .... there were lines where the father asks his daughter that when you grow old and get married, standing near the threshold of your husband's home..will tears roll on your cheeks remembering this poor papa!   ahhh !! it was very touchy

What is this life full of care. We do not have time to stand and stare... these lines are from a poem called 'Leisure'  by William Henry Davies. We are so busy in this materialistic life that sometimes I feel so helpless to chose between career and family! I just hope that when my chikoo grows old and looks back in his life..he will not have any complains about his childhood!

Takachi Kadhi( A butter Milk Soup)

Weekend would take a toll on me! This weekend was very hectic with unending clothes in the Washing Machine, cleaning, moping on one side and managing my sweet chikoo, the BIGGEST TASK!!

And by lunch time I was totally exhausted. And was not in a mood of preparing a full meal. One glance in my fridge...saw lot of left over Curd and decided to make Kadhi!!

My brother and I used to enjoy steamed rice with Takachi Kadhi a lot in our school days!!  Kadhi is prepared very often in Maharashtrian and Gujrathi families! Posting below a recipe for Takachi Kadhi- A hot butter milk soup!!

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Servings : 4

Ingredients:

Butter Milk:  2 cups (Thick and sour)

Besan(Gram Flour) -  2 tblspoons

Ghee - 1 tablespoon

Asafetida - a pinch

Turmeric : a pinch (optional)

GreenChillies -  3  slit length wise

Curry leaves-8

Salt

Grind to Paste:

1/2" Ginger

2  cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon Zeera(cumin)

1/2 tea spoon Pepper(meere)

Process:

1) Mix Besan, salt and the above paste in butter milk and whisk till no lumps are formed. (One thing to note is that salt has to be added to butter milk either before seasoning it or after removing it from flame).

2) For seasoning, heat ghee in a kadai and add Zeera.Wait till it turns light brown, then add asafetida, curry leaves, green chillies

3) Simmer the gas and add the butter milk mixture...Add water and adjust the consistency.

4) Let the Kadhi boil for 5 -7 minutes. Remove from heat adjust salt and serve it with steamed rice!!

You can also add Vegetables like snake gourd (cut into small round shaped pieces), drumsticks to the tamper and cook it in the kadhi till they become soft!

Leave me your comments! I would like to improve on!

Lasoony dry chutney

I had 3 phulkas, tondli sabzi and a dry chutney made of Garlic and groundnuts.One of my friends tasted it and she liked the irresistable taste of Garlic.And here I'm! posting a recipe for Lasooni Dry Chutney.Anybody who can grind in a mixer can make this recipe ;-)

Ingredients:
Garlic :  1 whole Garlic
Groundnuts: 25 grams (roasted and powdered)
Red chili powder
Zeera:  2 tea spoons
Salt
Sugar:Pinch

Process:

Grind all the above ingredients to a powder(not to a coarse powder) and serve it  with steamed rice and ghee  it tastes awesome!

In north Karnataka people enjoy Jowar Roti, raw onion , dal palak and Lasoony dry chutney mixed with dahi or a spoon of oil.

The DEATH

I attended a funeral last week, it was my first experience of seeing grief and pain from so near. Scientifically it is very clear, a human being comes to life and will survive till his body can sustain the wear and tear of life and finally the life ends and we name it as DEATH.
Can this fact be taken so easily? if life was just about Birth and Death, why do we have so much of Love, pain and grief?
We develop so much bonding with ppl around us that more than the feeling of death, parting our ways from our loved ones is more painful.
Being a woman, I can imagine what my aunt who passed away last week went through!
A woman struggles so much for her children and never expects anything in return.she never complains because she knows and understands that her child belongs to her and is a part of her.

And it is so painful to see her go! It is like after that continuos struggle in life she sleeps peacefully undisturbed.

My heart is heavy today! and I end my page here with a beautiful song !!

Gadi bula rahi Hein..Seeti baja rahi hein!! Chalna hi zindagi hein!! Chalte hi za rahi hein!!

26/11

It's two years that such horrifying thing happened . More than 166 people losing their lives, deserted families, agony, grief ,haunting memories .What have we done other than feeling bad for the one who lost their lives? The attack being telecasted every hour on television, discussions with the biggies in politics-is this the way we are going to fight against terrorism?
And the biggest questions is when we have the culprint with us, why is he still not punished? Instead he gets a royal treatment.
How long are we going to take this? can this never end? The questions go on and on....

 I have decided to light a candle and be a  part of the pain the families of the victims are experiencing today.

Paneer Do Pyaaza

It's 5 P.M here and I'm enjoying my chota samosas from my canteen!! no one can eat just one! :-)
Though this junk food is of no help other than adding more calories to my already overweight body, restricting is not one thats possible!
Few Days back I was on a strict Diet and restricted myself on everything I ate! Later I realized what I was missing in life, The Food!!
And then I made up my mind, I will not restrict myself but eat healthy food. Saying so, let me start with some healthy recipie 'Paneer Do Pyaaza'


Serving for 4
Ingredients:

Paneer     : 500 grams(cut in cubes)
Onion     :   2 in number(medium Size, cut length wise)
Tomato  :   2 in number(medium Size, blanch and puree)
Kasuri Methi
Garam Masala Powder 1 tea spoon
Ginger Garlic paste : 1 tablespoon
Green Chillies:  2 (slit length wise)
Corriender: a small bunch
Lal Mirch Powder
Turmeric: a pinch
Asafedita: a pinch
Salt To Taste
Mustard and Cumin seeds: 1 tea spoon
Oil : 1 tablespoon

Method:

1)Heat Oil in a Kadai, add Mustard and Cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter, then ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute
2) Add Green Shillies and Onion and wait till the Onions turn Brown
3) Add Tomato Puree and fry it for a minute
4) Add Mirchi Powder, Salt, Garam Masala,Kasuri Methi(add very little otherwise it may turn bitter)
5) Add little water and let it boil for 2 min
6) Add Fresh Home Made Paneer and cook it for 3 minutes on medium flame.

serve hot with rotis or steamed rice.

My First Blog

Finally  I have a blog to express myself. I was just thinking and thinking..what should I name my blog as!

Well, my way to somebody's heart is through their stomach!! :P

I'm fond of Food and love cooking.I have plans of posting good recipies in near future so thus the name 'Waytoheart'  :-)