Vadani Kaval Gheta

Healthy Nut Chocolate Nuggets

2020-12-09T11:58:00.004-08:00

I have not updated the blog in a long time as life just happened! Like all of you, it has taken toll on our lives too and we are also struggling to keep ourselves motivated.

We were able to meet few of our dear friends in person and were able to share some good laughs and good food. We are back to lock down in California and we are bracing ourselves to keep motivated. But "this shall pass" is the mantra I keep reciting!

Our last gathering was a Thanksgiving dinner with a dear friends who are our family here. We wanted have some feel of normalcy and decided to cook a full Thanksgiving feast sans turkey(of course)! We Indianized traditional ingredients and made it into 4 course meal and 3 hours enjoying it!

These healthy chocolate nut nuggets were made for kids to enjoy before full meal as energy balls. Very simple to make and can be made in a jiffy.

Here is how I made it -

1/2 cup Pecan pieces

1/2 cup Walnut pieces

8-9 Medjol Dates

1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (And some additional for coating)

1/4 cup Candied Ginger

Procedure:

Toast pecans and walnuts just to warm it up
Remove seeds from medjol dates
Add nuts in the food processor and pulse it to make coarse powder.
Add cocoa powder and ginger pieces pulse it to incorporate.
Now add dates one at a time from feeding tube while processor is running.
It will all come together nicely in crumbly ball.
Make small 2cm balls and if coat with cocoa powder if you like.
Shelf life is about 3-4 weeks

Notes:

You can skip cocoa powder and then they same date ladoos I shared many years ago.
Any kind of nuts be used.
You can always skip candied ginger and add 1/4 tsp ginger powder /sunth (सुंठ ) powder.
You can add any dates you have, bull will have to adjust number of dates.

Kande Pohe

2020-08-06T16:19:00.005-07:00

Pohe is quintessential Maharashtrian breakfast. Every one has their favorite way to make and enjoy pohe.

Today I am sharing my version

1 medium onion finely chopped 2 cups medium thick pohe (flattened rice) 2-3 green chillies chopped 4-5 curry leaves Salt to taste Juice of 1/2 lemon 1 tsp sugar 2-3 tablespoons oil Cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asafetida, turmeric powder A handful of chopped cilantro

Preparation -

Wash pohe (flattened rice) thoroughly and drain as much water as possible. You can use colander for draining water.

Finely chop onion.

Heat oil in a thick frying pan and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asafetida and turmeric powder.

Add curry leaves and chopped chilies.

Saute for a minute then add chopped onion. Saute until onions turn light golden.

Now add half pohe in the pan over saute's onion, add salt, sugar then add remaining pohe.

Mix thoroughly , once the turmeric covers all the pohe yellow, then you can cover it and leave it for 3-4 min on low heat.

Add lemon juice, chopped cilantro, mix and then enjoy.

We also add roasted peanuts, peas, cubed carrots to pohe. These should be added while sauteing onions.

Rice Kheer

2018-10-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

I barely celebrate very few festivals a year, Ganapati, Diwali, Dasara and Gudhi Padawa. Once in a while I remember making puran poli for Holi and that is about it. Between Modak, Shira, Puran poli, shrikhand, ladu and karanji are some sweets make regular appearance on the dinner plate. It has been ages since I made any type of kheers. My mom often made Shevai(Vermicelli) kheer and she makes so creamy, its just awesome. But I am not sharing that recipe this time because I do not have good home made vermicelli.
Today I am sharing a recipe of rice kheer I learned from my aunt. She makes killer rice kheer, very creamy, and of course tasty, and has melt in your mouth consistency! I have tried making rice kheer so many times and failed it! I asked her recipe a few years ago and finally made it for Dasara this year! It was pretty good but no where close to how my aunt makes it. But I will keep on practicing it.

Here is how I made it -

1/4 cup Basamati Rice
3 cups Milk, I used 1% milk
1/4 cup Sugar
3 Tbsp Almond Flour
Few strands od Saffron
Few Raisins

Preparation -
Wash rice thoroughly and soak it for 20-25 minutes.
Boil 3 cups of milk in a medium size pot.
Drain rice in colander to remove as much water as possible.
Now add drained rice in boiling milk. Lower the flame to medium and let rice cook completely, it usually takes 12-15 min to cook rice. Now add saffron and sugar in the boiling mixture.
Make paste of almond flour by adding little milk and then mix that paste in boiling mixture.
Add raisins, mix thoroughly.
By this time, kheer will be thickened and ready.
Turn the flame off, remove in serving dish and let it stand too cool.

Tips -

I think Basamati gives nice flavor to kheer. But if you don't have Basamati rice then try with rice you have, and change cooking time accordingly.
If you don't have almond flour, then cook bit more to make thicker kheer. And garnish with sliced almonds at the end.
You can eat it warm or chilled. I like it at room temperature or cold.

Walnut Chutney

2018-09-25T14:33:00.000-07:00

I am always a dog lover who grew up with multiple dogs back in India. My mom took care of hundreds of dogs and lots of cats too. There was a time when she would make at least 10+ Jowar rotis extra just to feed army of dogs. She would get angry at people who would throw stones at dogs or hit them with stick etc.

Fast forward few years and I met my first dog in US. A mischievous, extremely energetic and a very smart dog. He is my friend Vai's dog, Yoda. It was a love at first sight. I loved the fur ball that he was as a puppy and love him even more now that he has grown to be a extremely friendly and smart dog. He is like a sponge who is eager to learn new tricks and implement them as soon as he learnt them. His mom has taught him to give hugs, carry small packets, bring slippers. And believe me he brings slippers for the person who has asked him. He is pretty amazing dog! I taught him to dance on his hind legs and he enjoyed doing it whenever he would come to spend time with us. He and his mom moved to different state so I have not met him recently but his mom keep on sharing his mischiefs with us. And we get a good laugh.

I ate this walnut chutney with idlis at Vai's house for the first time years ago. Her mom had made it. I asked auntie how she made it, got basic idea and have been making it ever since! There are no specific proportions, thrown this n that and end result is perfect for dosas, idlis, sandwiches and with anything that you want to pair good chutney with.

Here is basic recipe, make it your own by changing things around.

1 cup Walnuts
2-3 Green Chilies (or per taste)
1 clove of Garlic
1/2" Ginger piece
Few sprigs of Cilantro
2 tsp Salt (or per taste)
1 tsp Sugar
Juice from 1/4th Lemon
Water as needed

Preparation -
Roast walnuts in microwave for about a minutes. Alternatively, you can roast them on stove top.
Add all the ingredients in grinder bowl except water. Grind to fine paste by adding little water at a time.
Taste and adjust salt, green chilies and consistency. Enjoy with anything that requires a good chutney!

Tips -

Some friends have told me they don't like garlic in it, some told garlic gives depth! So its up to you!
You can try adding couple of tablespoons yogurt instead of lemon juice that gives different flavor. Then its not a vegan recipe.

बदाम कतली

2018-09-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

अमेरिकेत बर्याच ग्रोसरी स्टोरमध्ये अलीकडे बदामाचे पीठ खूप सहज मिळते. ते मी एकदा उत्साहाने आणले आणि आता त्याचे काय करू म्हणुन ते फ्रीझरमध्ये २ महिने तसेच राहीले. मग एकदा आईच्या सल्ल्याने ते कणिक भिजवताना थोडे घालून वापरले तर त्या चपात्या मला फार आवडू लागल्या छान खुसखुशीत होतात. ती बदाम पिठाची पिशवी तशीच चपातीच्या कणकेत घालून संपवली. मी पूर्वी घरी काजू/पिस्ते/बदामाची पावडर करून कतली करायचे पण या पिठामुळे काम खूप सोपे झाले.

मी नेहेमी घरात बदाम्/पिस्ते/काजूची पावडर करून कतली करायचे पण ती बरेचदा रवाळ लागायची. मग एकदा धाडस करून ह्या पिठाची करून पाहिली आणि चक्क नीट जमली. आज परत केली तर ती पण नीट झाली. गेल्या ८ दिवसात साधारण १०-११ कप पिठाच्या वड्या केल्या म्हणून लिहून ठेवतेय!

१/२ वाटी साखर (अमेरिकेत बारिक रवाळ साखर असते तरी खाली भारतात कशी करावी ते लिहिते)
३-४ टेबलस्पुन पाणी
१ ते १.५ कप बदामाचे पीठ
५-६ केशर काड्या किंवा थोडी वेलची पूड (वगळले तरी चालेल)
किंचीत बदामाचे तेल किंवा तेल

कृती -
सर्वात प्रथम एका जड थाळ्याला (मी कटींग बोर्ड किंवा पोळपाट वापरते) मागच्या बुडाच्या बाजुने तूप लावून घ्यावे. तसेच एका लाटण्याला आणि एका वाटीच्या बुडाला तेल/तूप लावून बाजुला ठेवावे.
बदामचे पीठ १ कप मोजून बाजुला ठेवावे. जास्तीचे हाताशी असू द्यावे.
आता कढईत साखर आणि ३ टेबलस्पून पाणी घेऊन पाक करायला ठेवावा. घालणार असाल तर केशराची पूड/वेलचीची पूड करून याच वेळी साखरेत घालायची.
आधी पाक खुपच पातळ वाटतो पण हो हळू हळू घट्ट होतो. पाकातला चमचा जरा उचलून वर धरुन पाक परत कढईत पडताना साधारण २ तार दिसतात तसे दिसले की पाक झाला असे समजायचे. फूड थर्मामिटर असेल तर नक्की वापरा टेम्परेचर २३५ फॅरेनहाईट असायला हवे.
त्यात पाव चमचा पाणी घालून नीट मिसळले की बदामाचे पीठ नीट मिसळायचे. दिसताना मिक्श्चर थोडे चिकट दिसेल ते तसेच हवे.
आता थाळ्यावर ते मिश्रण ओतायचे व वाटीने सारखे करायचे. लाटण्याने सरा सरा पातळसर लाटायचे. १/४ सेंटीमिटर जाडीची पोळी झाली की बोथट सुरी किंवा उलतण्याने कतल्या कापायच्या.
पूर्ण गार झाल्यावर डब्यात भरुन ठेवायच्या.

टीपा -

लिहायला / वाचायला वेळ लागला तरी सुरुवात ते शेवट कृतीला कसेबसे १५ मिनीटे लागतात.
बदामाचे पीठ नसेल तर काजू/बदामाची एकदम बारीक रव्यासारखी पावडर करून घ्यावी. त्यासाठी बदाम / काजू थोडे शेकून घेतले तर नीट बारीक पीठ
भारतातली साखर मिक्सरला फिरवून घेऊन मग त्याचा पाक करायला घेतला तर कमी पाणी लागेल नाहीतर थोडे पाणी जास्तीचे घालावे लागेल.
मिश्रण भगराळ/रवाळ झाले एकत्र येत नाही याचा अर्थ पाक जास्त झाला, मिश्रण कढईत घालून गरम असतानाच त्यात १/२ चमचा पाणी घातले तर ते मऊ होईल आणि लाटता येइल.
मिश्रण खुपच चिकट झालेय याचा अर्थ पाक थोडा मऊ राहिला थोडावेळ गरम कढईत ठेवले तरी ते नीट होऊन लाटता येईल.

No Knead Bread

2018-09-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of Mark Bittman and his minimalist cooking style. Last year I had privilege to attend one of his book signing event for his book Vegan Before 6. But I did not get the copy to get signed from him as I decided to buy eBook version. I have tried few of his recipes and his flavor combinations do amaze me! Simple and flavorful! He also talks very casually and does not force his though process on his followers. I miss his regular column in New York Times but happy that archives are

I have been trying to make breads with various recipes but kneading dough by hand for 10+ minutes is not fun! Been there done that! And food processors are useless when it comes to huge amount of dough. And you must have figured by now that I do not have a stand mixer. So I wanted to try a bread that needs no kneading!! I watched Mark Bittman's video on NY Times at least 5 times before I tried my first loaf. It was a success in first trial. But then there are lot of things go really well in first trial and then all downhill from there. So I gave it another try this time with sun dried tomatoes and garlic and it was a hit too! Now I had much more confidence in the recipe so I tried pull apart version with Zatar, also tried rosemery version. I have made it with half white and half wheat flour. And results were awesome every time! I then found out from a friend that there is a 'Quick No Knead' recipe. I have tried it twice and that comes out really great too. And the you do not have to wait for 12-15 hours for it! But today So here I am jotting down my notes of customizing Mark Bittman's Original No Knead Bread.

Here is the link to original recipe - http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=0

And here my basic recipe followed by my variations -

1.5 cups All Purpose Flour, plus more for dusting
1.5 cups Whole Wheat Flour
3 tsp Vital Wheat Gluten**
1 and 5/8 cups Water
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Instant Dry Active Yeast

Other ingredients - 3-4 tbsp Chopped fresh Rosemary Or 1/2 cup chopped Sun Dried Tomatoes Or 2-3 tbsp Zatar Or 3-4 tbsp Freshly chopped Garlic or any other things you like in your bread.

Preparation -
Mix APF, wheat flour, and vital wheat gluten in a non reactive bowl big enough so that there is enough space to flour to rise.

Add yeast and salt to the flour mix and mix again.

Now add water and mix it to form a loose dough. Make sure all the flour is incorporated.
Cover with plastic wrap and keep it in a warm place for 3-4 hours. I usually put mine in oven with light on. Dough should be almost tripled in 4 hours.

Lightly flour work surface and punch it down the dough. Casually make a ball and let it rest for 15 minutes. Additional ingredients like rosemary etc should be added at this step. Flour your hands, sprinkle little more flour on the work surface and fold the dough and form a nice ball. You do not need to work on the dough too much, just slightly form a ball.

Sprinkle corn meal or flour on a cotton towel (do not use Turkish towel). Put the dough ball seam side down. Sprinkle more corn meal or flour on top and cover with cotton towel and let it rise for 2 more hours. I use flour most of the time.

About 1.5 hours after you have put the dough covered in towel, preheat oven at 450F. Keep a 6-8 quart covered Pyrex or cast iron skillet or cast iron dutch oven in the oven (cover should be oven proof at 450 degrees F). I usually use a cast iron skillet and cast iron griddle as cover.

in half an hour carefully remove the heating container from the oven. Open the dough from the covered kitchen towel and with hand carefully drop the dough in heated container. Casually shake the container, cover and slide back in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes covered. Carefully remove the cover and bake for another 20-30 minutes.

Remove the container from the oven and remove beautifully baked bread on cooling rack. Slice with serrated knife and enjoy with oil+balsamic vinegar mixture.

Tips -

If you do not have Vital Wheat gluten, please use only All Purpose Flour and don't use any wheat flour as bread will be extremely dense and will not test good.
Please handle the hot containers with care, use oven mitts all the time. cast iron container are extremely heavy and becomes even more heavier with dough.
The crumb and taste resembles sourdough bread.
I like the rosemary bread the most.

Fruit Salad

2018-05-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

Fruit salad sounds like very summer dessert, doesn't it? My family always enjoyed it during Ganapati and Diwali festival. And you might be wondering, why? How? Well, we always got at least 5 different fruits for pooja . And when you have so many fruits best way to enjoy them was to make fruit salad! But somehow I rarely made it after coming to US and there was one particular reason behind not making it - chikoos. I love sweet chikoos in my fruit salad, it makes the fruit salad thicken a bit.

Last year, I suddenly found bananas, apples, pears, mangoes and oranges in my fruit basket before going on 4 days vacation. And I had to make something and not let them go waste. My mom immediately thought of making fruit salad, and she single made it in the afternoon while I was in office. And combination of slightly ripe pears and mangoes together made the fruit salad thicken a little. I have made the fruit salad multiple times after that.

There are no particular proportions I follow, you can add any fruits you fancy but avoid melons. Add at least one fruit that has sweet pulp. Here is how I made it recently -

1 ripe Mangoe
1 large Fuji Apple
1 large ripe Pear
1 large Banana
5-6 large Strawberries
You can add sweet Grapes and Tangerines
2 cups of milk
3-4 tbsp sugar
A pinch of Cardamom powder

Preparation -
Boil milk on stove top at least 15-20 minutes and set aside to cool down completely. You can do this ahead of time and use chilled milk.
Peel all fruits except strawberries and grapes, cut all into 1cm dice. Keep adding them to a big mixing bowl.
Add sugar, cardamom powder and chilled milk.
Mix lightly and carefully.
Add chopped strawberries and grapes on top and refrigerate at least for 2-3 hours.
Enjoy chilled!

Tips -

Avoid melons, pineapples in the mix.
You can add chopped nuts before serving.
Finish within a day or so.
Bananas can turn black and might not look appetizing to some, in that case avoid using them.

भाजीचे सांडगे

2017-05-03T15:21:00.001-07:00

महाराष्ट्रात खूप प्रकारची वाळवणे करण्याच्या पद्धती आहेत. त्यामागचा मुख्य उद्देश पदार्थ टिकवून गरजेवेळी वापरणे. यात सगळ्याप्रकाराचे पापड, कुर्डाया, सांडगे येतात. त्यातही भाजीसाठी लागणारे सांडगे एकदम विशेष. पंजाबी बडी / वडी लोकांना माहिती असते पण मराठी सांडगे गावाकडे नक्कीच माहिती असतात. प्रत्येक घराचे करण्याचे डाळींचे प्रमाण वेगळे पण पद्धत एकच.

पापड, सांडगे, कुरडया म्हणले की मला आठवते ते मम्मीच्या मैत्रिणीचे घर, गच्ची आणि उन्हाळ्याच्या दिवसातल्या सकाळची गडबड. त्यांच्या घराला गच्ची होती पण जिना नव्हता शिडीने ये जा. मी शिडीवर चढायला तिथे प्रथम शिकले. खिच्चे, सांडगे, भातवड्या, कुरवाड्या, उपासाचे पापड, चकल्या एवढे सगळे वाळवणाचे पदार्थ केले जायचे. त्याम्च्या घराचे, आमच्या घराचे असे वेगवेगळे तर कधी एकत्र. त्या सगळ्या मावश्या सुट्टीला माहेरी येत मुंबईवरून मग त्या तिघी, त्या घराच्या बाकीच्या मामी आणि त्यांची शाळेतली मैत्रीण मम्मी अशी भरभक्कम फळी कामाला असे. आणि लुडबुड करायला त्यांच्याकडची ३-४ मुले आणि आम्ही दोघे. त्यांच्याकडे मोठी भांडी पाळ्या उलाथणी होती त्यामुळे बरेचदा सगळे तिथेच शिजवायचे असे. मग सकाळपासून आमचा मुक्काम संध्याकाळपर्यंत तिथेच. मम्मीला शिवणाचे काम खूप असेल तर ती यायची नाही पण मी तिथेच असायचे. प्लास्टिकचे पेपर, लहान पळ्या वगैरे गच्चीवर घेऊन जायचे काम आमचे मुलांचे. मोठी शिजवलेली गरम भांडी न्यायाचे काम घराच्या मामा लोकांचे. मग पटापटा त्या पापड्या घालायच्या सगळ्या बायका. सांडगे मात्र घरातच ताटात घालून ताडे उन्हात नेली जायची. शेवया, गव्हले, नखुले बोलावे वगैरे पण घरातच करून ताटे उन्हात नेली जायची. उन्हाळ्यात मला असले काय काय करायची फार हुक्की येते पण मी अलीकडे फार काही केले नाही. गेल्यावर्षी मम्मीला सांडगे करताना पाहिले आणि परत काहीतरी करू असे वाटले तोवर उन्हाळा संपला होता.

आज आपण भाजीचे सांडगे कसे करायचे ते पाहू. पुढच्या पोस्टमध्ये त्याची आमटी करण्याची पद्धत पाहू.

१ कप हरबरा डाळ
१ कप उडीद डाळ
८-९ पाकळ्या लसूण
१-१.५" आल्याचा तुकडा
१.५ टेबलस्पून लाल तिखट (किंवा आवडीप्रमाणे)
चवीपुरते मीठ (२-३ टीस्पून)

कृती -
डाळी उन्हात कडकडीत वाळवून घ्याव्यात.
मिक्सरवर रवाळ बारीक कराव्यात. एकत्र बारीक केल्या तरी चालतील.
सांडगे घालणार त्याच्या आदल्या दिवशी रात्री डाळींचा रवा एका पातेल्यात घ्यावा.
आले-लसूण छान बारीक वाटून घ्यावे, तो वाटलेला गोळा, लाल तिखट, मोठे डाळीच्या रव्यात घालून पीठ भिजवावे.
पीठ घट्टच असावे, साधारण कणिक असते तितपतच मऊ असावे. पीठ पातळ झाले तर सांडगे कडक होतात.
पीठे झाकून ठेवावे.
सकाळी एखाद्या ताटाला किंचित तेलाचे बोट पुसावे. पाण्यात हात बुडवून पिठाचा गोळा हातात घेऊन १ सेमी साईझचे सांडगे घालावेत. ताटे उन्हात वाळवावीत. पूर्ण खडखडीत वळण्यासाठी ३-४ दिवस लागू शकतात. गडबड न करता ते नीट वाळू द्यावेत. वाळले की कोरड्या घट्ट झाकणाच्या डब्यात वर्षभर तरी नक्की टिकतात.

टीपा -

यात तूरडाळ किंवा मूगडाळ घालता येते पण आम्हाला आवडत नाहीत म्हणून घालत नाही.
काही लोक कोहाळे खिसुन घालतात तर काही कोथिंबीरपण घालतात.

Spicy Steel Cut Oats

2017-03-29T10:28:00.003-07:00

I have been busy fulfilling pottery orders I am getting from friends and family. I made few sets of cups, few casserole bowls, and large pasta bowls in past few months. And almost all of them are sold out. It is very encouraging to see my creations fly off the shelf but now I feel the need to slow down and focus on my creativity :) It's always a battle in my mind "make to sell" or "creative making"!! Let's see if I can focus on my creations and try to sell that.

Here is a collage for you to look at -

I am always trying to incorporate local grains like Quinoa, Oats, Buckwheat in my daily cooking. Oats is more versatile that anyone can imagine. I have been using steel cut oats to make Adai, Idli, Pongal instead of rice. As the grain is bit sticky/glutenous it is easy to substitute in these recipes. But I recently started making Puliyogare and Vangi bhat with steel cut oats and taste is awesome! It is a staple breakfast item if made ahead of time. Today's recipe is a generic recipe that can be used with any vegetables, masalas and adjusted to your taste.

Here is how I make it -

1/2 cup Steel Cut Oats
2 cups Chopped Mixed Vegetables*
1 tbsp Sambar masala
1 tsp Tamarind Paste
2 tbsp Peanuts
Salt per Taste
Water as needed
2 tbsp Oil
Ingredients for Tadkha - 1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds, 1 tsp Urad Daal, few Curry Leaves, 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder, 1 Dry Red Chili

Preparation -
Dry roast oats on medium heat. Add just drop of oil if needed.
Cook roasted oats with 3/4 cup water and pinch of salt either in rice cooker or in pressure cooker.
Let the oats cool down and then fluff it with fork. Set it aside.
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and add tadakha ingredients one by one. Let mustard seeds splutter.
Add peanuts and roast just for a minute or two.
Add all the mixed vegetables and saute for few minutes. Cover if needed.
Add fluffed oats, sambar masala, salt, tamarind paste.
Mix well and cover just for few minutes.
Serve hot with Avaocado pieces or pickle.

Tips -

* I have used zucchini, bell pepper, carrots, cabbage, peas, and onion. And key is not to cook vegetables too mushy.
Pav bhaji masala also tastes awesome instead of Sambar masala. Just omit tamarind paste and squeeze lemon while serving.

स्टर फ्राय भाज्या

2017-03-05T17:53:00.003-08:00

स्टर फ्राय केलेल्या भाज्या हा चायनीज रेस्टारंट मधील एक आवडता प्रकार. बऱ्याच वेगवेगळ्या भाज्या एकत्र असतात. थोडा भात किंवा नूडल्स घातल्या की पोटभरीचे जेवण होते. मी हा प्रकार बरेचदा घरी करायचे पण कधी नीट झाला नाही. एखादी भाजीतरी अती शिजवायची आणि मग ते सगळे प्रकरण अगदीच बोअर लागायचे. अलीकडे एका शेफबरोबर बोलणे झाले तेव्हा मी माझा हा प्रॉब्लेम सांगितल्यावर "सगळ्या भाज्या वेगवेगळ्या परतणे" हाच त्यावरचा सोपा उपाय असे कळले. मग लगेच प्रयोग करून पाहिले तर एकदम परफेक्ट जमलं. सगळ्या भाज्या छान कुरकुरीत तरी शिजलेल्या आणि सॉस सगळीकडे नीट लागलेला अशा या परतलेल्या भाज्या छानच लागतात.

साहित्य -
१ मध्यम आकाराचे गाजर, साल काढून
१ मध्यम आकाराची ढबू मिरची
१ मध्यम गड्डा ब्रोकोली
१ मध्यम गड्डा फ्लॉवर
१ कप १सेमी क्युब केलेला टोफू
एक लहान कांदा
३-४ पातीचे कांदे (भारतात असते त्याचे कांदे नाही वापरायचे फक्त पातच वापरायची)
चवीप्रमाणे मीठ

सॉस/ड्रेसिंगचे साहित्य-

१ टीस्पुन रेड चिली सॉस (आवडीप्रमाणे कमी-जास्त)
१-२ टेबलस्पून सोयासॉस
१-२ टेबलस्पून व्हिनेगर (मी बाल्सामिक वापरले)
१ टीस्पून ओबडधोबड लसूण पेस्ट
१ टीपून किसलेले आले (ऑप्शनल - १/२ कप शिजलेला किन्वा/भात्/दलिया)

कृती -
ड्रेसिंगचे साहित्य सगळे एकत्र करुन ध्या. आणि बाजूला ठेवा.
सगळ्या भाज्या धुवुन घ्या. कापून सगळ्या भाज्या वेगवेगळ्या ठेवायच्या आहेत. एकत्र करायच्या नाहीत.
ब्रोकोली, फ्लॉवरचे मध्यम तुरे करुन घ्या. दांडे तिरके कापून घ्या.
गाजर साल काढून तिरके तिरके पातळ स्लाईस करुन ठेवा.
कांदा, ढबू कापून त्याचे पण १/२" चौकोनी तुकडे करुन घ्या.
पातीचा कांदा स्लाईस करुन ठेवा.
गॅसवर कढई तापायला ठेवा. कढई व्यवस्थीत तापली की त्यात एक १/२ टे.स्पून तेल घाला आणि ब्रोकोली घाला, त्यावर किंचीत मीठ भुरभुरवा. भरभरा हलवा. ब्रोकोली अर्धवट शिजली की एका प्लेट्/मोठ्या बाऊलमधे ठेवा. आता अशीच एक एक भाजी/टोफू वेगवेगळी परतून घ्या आणि बाजूला ठेवा. शिजवलेल्या भाज्या एकत्र केल्या तरी चालतील. शेवटची भाजी परतून झाली की त्यावर आता सगळ्या भाज्या टाका, एकत्र केलेला सॉस अर्धा ओता, भरभर हलवा. चव बघा आणि लागला तर उरलेला सॉस घाला. आणि लगेच गॅस बंद करून घालणार असाल तर भात्/किन्वा/दलिया घाला, नीट एकत्र करून वाढायला सुरु करा.

टिपा -

भाज्या वेगवेगळ्याच परतायच्या ही टीप एका चायनीज शेफने दिली आहे आणि त्याने खरोखर चवीत फरक पडला आणि स्गळ्या भाज्या एकसारख्या क्रंची राहतात.
तिखट कमी वाटले तर वाढून घेतल्यावर थोडा चिली सॉस घालून खा.
थोड्या करपल्या तरी चालेल पण कढई व्यवस्थीतच तापू द्या.
शुगर स्नॅप पीज, वॉटरचेस्टनट्स, कोबी पण यात छान लागतात.

Leafy Green Vegetables

2016-04-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

Maharashtrians use lots of leafy vegetables in their day-to-day cooking. It was mandatory to eat leafy greens everyday when we were kids. Now I am glad that I got to taste so much variety.

Here is my attempt to give pictorial view to some of the very commonly available greens. I will keep on adding more pictures to this page. I have recipes of for most of these greens on my blog. Please try and look for these beauties in your local farmers markets, grocery stores and and try them.

तांदुळजा/हिरवा माठ (Chinese Spinach) -

लाल माठ (Red Amaranth) -

राजगिरा (Amaranth) -

शेपू (Dill) -

चंदन बटवा (Bathua) -

चाकवत -

आंबट चुका (Green Sorrel) -

पालक (Spinach) -

मायाळू (Malabar Spinach) -

मेथी (Fenugreek) -

घोळ (Purslane leaves) -

चिवळ / चिऊची भाजी -

लाल भोपळ्याची पाने (Pumpkin leaves) -

करडी / करडई (Safflower leaves) -

आळूची पाने (Colocasia leaves / Taro leaves / Elephant ear leaves) -

हरभऱ्याची पाने (Garbanzo leaves) -

आंबाडी (गोंगुरा / Red Sorrel) -

मुळ्याचा पाला (Radish Leaves) -

कांद्याची पात (Green Onion / Scallions) -

उडदाचे पापड आणि आठवणी

2016-04-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

शाळांमधील उन्हाळ्याच्या सुट्ट्यांमधे आजुबाजुच्या घरी पोळपाट-लाटणी घेऊन पापड करायला यायचे 'निमंत्रण' आम्हाला मिळत असे. मम्मीला शिवणाचे बरेच काम असल्याने त्या कामावर माझी रवानगी होत असे. आमचा घरचा पोळपाट पांढरट सनमायका लावलेला होता. आणि बर्‍याच मुलींना त्यावर पापड लाटायची इच्छा असायची. त्यामुळे सगळ्या मैत्रिणी त्या दिवसापुरत्या का होईना माझ्याशी नीट बोलत. हीच कथा दिवाळीच्या करंज्या करताना!

या उन्हाळीसामानाच्या, उद्या मी करते, परवा तू कर अशा बायकांमधे चर्चा होताना कधी-मधी ऐकायला यायच्या. वळवाच्या पावसाच्या अंदाजानुसार एकेकीचे बेत ठरायचे. बरोबरीने कुणाच्या पाटावरच्या शेवया, कुणाच्या मशीनवर केलेल्या शेवया, भाजीचे सांडगे, तळणीचे सांडगे, खिच्चे, बटाट्याचे पापड, वेफर्स, उपासाच्या चकल्या, कुरवड्या, भातवड्या, पापड्या, सालपापड्या असे विविध प्रकार बायका करत असत. त्यातही काहींचा अगदी सरळसोट कारभार असे तर काही त्यातही वेगवेगळे रंग वगैरे घालून वेगळेपण दाखवत. एखाद्याच्या घरात जर लग्न असेल तर मग दुप्पटीने करायचे असे. आणि मुलीचे लग्न असेल तर मग रंगीत पापड वगैरे रुखवतासाठी केले जाई. गव्हले, मालत्या वगैरे खिरीचे ५ प्रकार करून बुरडाकडून आणलेल्या बारक्या सुपात किंवा दुरर्ड्यांमधे ठेवले की मस्तच दिसत. जरा मोठी शिबरी(बुट्ट्या) आणुन त्यात हे सगळे उन्हाळसामान नीट लावून त्यावर जिलेटीन कागद लावून रुखवतासाठी माळ्यावर कोणाचा हात लागणार नाही अशा जागी ठेवत. माझ्या मम्मीचे हे सगळे प्रकार खुप नाजुक होतात म्हणून आजुबाजुच्या एकदोन लग्नात तिच्याकडून लोकांनी करून नेलेले पण मला आठवतात.

तर आपण काय बोलत होतो? उडदाचे पापड!!
उडदाचे पापड करायचे म्हणजे तयारी त्यामानाने कमी लागायची. उडीद डाळ आणून वाळवून एकदम बारीक दळून आणली जाई. ही डाळ दळायला नेली की गिरणीवाला हमखास ३-४ वेळा विचारून डाळ वाळवून आणली आहे ना याची खात्री करायचा. एखादा वस्ताद तर ४-५ डाळी स्वतः कुडुमकुडुम खाऊन खात्री करून घेतल्याशिवाय चक्कीत घालायचा नाही. एखाद्या घरचे खटले जर मोठे असेल तर सहजी ३-४ किलोचे पापड त्यांच्याकडे केले जायचे.
डाळ दळून आणली की एकदा कोरड्या पेपरवर चाळून घ्यायची. त्यातून लावण्यापुरती वेगळी काढायची. मग एका मोठया परातीत पापडाचा माल मसाला आणि पीठ सगळे नीट एकत्र करून घ्यायचे. आणि पाण्याची अगदी बारीक धार सोडत पीठ घट्ट मळून घ्यायचे. हे पीठ इतके घट्ट असे की जणू काही क्रिकेटचा बॉलच! मग तेलाचा हात लावून पीठ डब्ब्यात घालून ठेवले जाई.

सकाळी उठुन मग घरची बाई हे पीठ कुटायला बसे. तेलाचा हात लावून खलबत्त्यात एकावेळी साधारण ४-५ पोळ्यांचे किंवा त्याहुनही कमी पीठ एकावेळी कुटले जाई. मदतीला कोणी असेल तर मग ५-६ घाव मारून झाले की मदतनीस थोड्या तेलाच्या हाताने दोन्ही हाताने ते पापडाचे पीठ ओढून-एकत्र करून-ओढून-एकत्र करून असे फेसत असे. यामुळे पापड एकदम हलका होई. आता हे चालू असताना, घरची चिल्लर आणि पुरुषमंडळी पिठ खाण्यासाठी मधुन मधुन डोकावून जात. हा कार्यक्रम सगळ्या पिठाचा करून झाला की ते पीठ तेल लावून मग पुन्हा झाकुन ठेवले जाई.

मग रोजचा स्वयंपाक, जेवणखाण उरकले की घरच्या चिल्लरपैकी एकजण गल्लीत सगळ्या घरी जाऊन पापड करायला पोळपाट-लाटणे घेऊन या असे 'आवताण' देऊन येत असे. मग आपापल्या घरची कामे उरकुन मग बायका मुली पापडाला बसत. एकटी गोळ्या करून त्याला तेल लावून ठेवी. ह्या गोळ्या करायला खुपदा खजुरी दोरा वापरला जात असे. क्वचीत एखादीकडे सुरी असायची. एखादी लहान मुलगी असेल तर ती लहान पापड लाटून देई मग एखादी तेच पापड मोठे करत असे. हे मोठे पापड करणार्‍या असत त्यांच्याकडे रेषा-रेषांची, चौकडीची मस्त लाटणी असत. पापडांचे तेल मुरल्याने मस्त तुकतुकीत झालेल्या या लाटण्यांचे मला फार कौतुक होते! त्याने पोळपाटावर मजेशीर असा सरसर-करकर असा आवाज येई. असे २५-३० पापड झाले की गोळ्या करणारीची पापड सावलीत वाळवण्यासाठी साडीवर पसरण्यासाठी नेमणूक होत असे. मधुन मधुन लाटणार्‍यांसाठी लाट्या, चहा, सरबत असा खुराक चालू असे आणि महत्वाचे बरेचसे गॉसिप सोबत चघळायला असे. करमणूकीसाठी टी.व्ही. नव्हते त्यामुळे अमकीचे लग्न, सिनेमाच्या स्टोर्‍या, गाणी, अमकीच्या लग्नात काय झाले, तमक्याने नविन सायकल घेतले असले चर्वित चर्वण सरसर होणार्‍या पापडांबरोबर पटापट पुढे सरकत असे. हे पापड सगळे सावलीतच कोरडे करत असत. पापड कडक उन्हात वाळवला तर तुकडे पडतात म्हणून मग असे आधी सावलीत आणि एक सकाळ कोवळ्या उन्हात वाळवले जात. त्यामुळे गप्पांमधे कधी खंड पडत नसे. हा हा म्हणता २-३ किलोचे पापड सहज होऊन जात. मग घरची बाई सगळ्यांसठी परत एकदा चहा करी. सोबत जाताना रात्री खिचडीबरोबर खाण्यासाठी ५-६ पापड सोबत देई. येवढे पापड लाटल्यावर घरच्या भाकर्‍या थापायचे त्राण कोणाकडेच नसत!!

नवा दिवस उजाडला की परत कोणाचे तरी आमंत्रण आणि परत हाच प्रयोग, हीच पात्रे फक्त स्टेज निराळे!

आमच्या घरचे पापड मात्र मी साधारण ५-६ वीत असल्यापासून मी आणि मम्मी दोघीच करत आलो आहे. रोज १/२ किलोचे पीठ भिजवून असे २ किंवा तीन दिवस हे पापड करायचे कारण बर्‍याचदा इतक्या घरचे पापड केल्यावर बायका उरका पाडल्यासारख्या जाड जाड पापड करत किंवा मग मम्मीच्या शिवणकामानंतर साधारण ४ ते ६ वगैरे आम्ही पापड करत असू. पापड नीट गोल होत नसेल तर शिकण्यासाठी मम्मीने कित्येकदा पापड मोडून गोळा करून करत करायला लावले आहेत :) आता ते टॉर्चर वाटते पण तेव्हा नीटपणाची सवय लागली ती पुढे कधी सुटली नाही.

मम्मीचे पापडाचे प्रमाण असे -
१ किलो उडीद डाळ वाळवून दळून आणायची. लावण्यासाठी १-१.५ वाटी पीठ काढून ठेवायचे.
२० ग्रम पापडखार खडे फोडून चाळून घ्यायचा
बारीक मीठ पाव वाटी
१०-२० ग्रॅम मिरे
हिरव्या मिरच्या ६-७ किंवा चवीप्रमाणे
एक-दोन गड्डे लसूण (आवडत असतील तर)
जीरे १ टेबल्स्पून (छान दिसतात म्हणून)

कृती -
मिरी मिक्सरवर बारीक करून घ्यायची.
हिरव्या मिरच्या, लसूण एकत्र वाटून घ्यायचे.
चाळलेल्या पिठात हे सगळे नीट मिसळायचे. अगदी हळूहळू पाणी घालत पीठ घट्ट भिजवायचे. पीठ मू अजिबातच भिजवायचे नाही. पुरीच्या पिठाहूनही कठीण असते हे पीठ. बोट लावले तर बोट जराही आत नाही गेले पाहिजे.
दुसरे दिवशी खलबत्त्यात कुटायचे, ताणून ताणून फेसायचे.
कमीत कमी पिठावर पापड लाटायचे.

लहान प्रमाणात करून पहायचे असेल तर १ कप पीठ, १ टीस्पून पापडखार, १ टीस्पून मिरे, एखादी मिरची वापरून पापड करून पहाता येतील :)

असेच मुगाच्या डाळीचे पापड करतात पण ते पीठ खुप लवकर मऊ पडते. आभाळ आलेले असेल तर पापड करत नाहीत कारण पीठ मऊ पडते म्हणतात.

Maharashtrian Style Chili Lime Pickle (Mirachiche Lonache)

2016-02-17T22:07:00.001-08:00

My family has been growing green chilies in the family farm for generations. It might be because the region gets very less rains. The variety we grow is called Sankeshwari Chilies. It is moderately hot and moderately red in color. I remember we actually never buy chili powder from store as yearly supply is send to us by my uncle. In the past he also grew some Byadagi chilies just for home and mixed it with the Sankeshwari to give bright red color to the chili powder. I think later he stopped doing it.

My Ajji used to make awesome pickles from chilies like Maeen Mula (sorry no picture) and green chilies, Green mangoes and chilies, Green Mangoes and Garlic and many more combinations. There is a very special pickle made in the region called Channyache Lonache (छन्न्याचे लोणचे). Channya is very similar to Parwar. But I am not hundred percent sure about how close these two vegetables are to each other.

But my favorite pickle is Chili Lime Pickle as it is the most flavorful pickle in my opinion. Softened green chilies, creamy mustard and perfect sourness of limes makes it to die for! I love to eat this pickle with home churned butter and bread toast. Another favorite combination is this pickle, soft warm Idli and butter! Oh! heaven in mouth!

If I remember correctly, this pickle is made in winter time as that is the season when Fresh chilies are available in abundance. It needs nice and juicy limes as well. I say limes because traditionally we get limes in abundance in India and very rarely lemons. But here in US I have used both lemons and limes and it produces similar results. These days I tend to use more lemons because lots of our neighbors have lemon trees and I get steady supply of pesticide free lemons in the pickle season. And I get to make many many varieties of lemon pickles!

Choosing correct spice level for green chilies is very important step. I think spicy is not always tasty because it kills other flavors of the dish and it is particularly true with this pickle. I choose medium spicy long light green chilies from nearby farmers market.

Here is my mom's general recipe -

1/2 kg Fresh Green Chilies (medium spicy variety)
10 medium size Lemons
2+2 tbsp Methi seeds
2-3 tsp Hing
3-4 tsp Turmeric
1/4 cup Salt (as per taste)
1 cups Mustard Seeds
1/4 cup Oil (any flavorless oil)

Preparation -
Wash green chilies under running water without crushing them. Let them dry completely on paper towel overnight in single layer.
Also wash the lemons and dry them overnight in single layer. We do not want even a single drop of water on either lemons or chilies.
Next day first dry roast 2 tbsp methi seeds and cool them. Grind to make coarse powder.
Grind mustard seeds coarsely and set aside.
Heat oil in a small kadhai. Add 2 tbsp methi seeds, hing and turmeric powder. As soon as the methi seeds start sizzling add ground methi seeds and ground mustard seeds. Let mustard seeds sizzle for a minute and shut the heat off. Let the oil cool down to room temperature.
Discard all the stems from chilies. Discard chilies that are broken or have black spots. And make sure each and every chili is dry and there is not a single drop of water on it.
Clean lemons and dry them with towel.
Now start cutting chilies with dry knife and dry cutting board. Cut the chilies in 1 centimeter length. Keep them in a deep bowl.
Now squeeze juice 5 lemons and set aside.
Chop remaining lemons in 1 centimeter pieces. Add these to the chilies.
Mix about 2-3 tbsp salt and lemon juice with chili-lemon mixture.
Let it sit down until oil is cooled down completely.
Mix oil with the chili-lemon mixture and mix it thoroughly. Adjust salt if necessary.

Now layer about a teaspoon salt in a glass jar and fill in the pickle. Continue with the process until all the pickle is bottled.
Now add single layer of salt on top of pickle. Close the lids tightly.
Keep in cool dry place.

Notes -

My mom used to open bottles every 2-3 days and mix and keep it cool and dry place until chilies are softened. I realized that my pickle invariably goes bad if I do that so I do not open the bottles for almost a month. Recently I have been using 8oz mason jars, pickle stays fresh for long time and one can use only one small bottle as needed. I have also left my pickle bottles in fridge for almost a moth without touching it to avoid spoiling it.
Keep your hands, all the ingredients and utensils dry is the key to make pickle that lasts. Also not washing your hands frequently during the process is important.
Another very interesting recipe I cam across on Maayboli was to grind mustard seeds with lemon juice to make it more spicy. In that pickle tempering is only made from methi seeds, hing and turmeric powder. It also tastes heavenly.

TiLachi vaDi or chikki - Sesame Brittle

2016-01-15T17:23:00.003-08:00

तिळगूळ घ्या गोड बोला।।

Makar Sankrant is just around the corner. It marks end of winter solstice. It is believed that the Sun starts moving towards Northern Hemisphere on this day by length of one sesame seed! This is the only festival in India is celebrated by Solar calendar, all others are celebrated according to Lunar calendar. It is celebrated all over India. It is called Sankrant in most of Northern India and as Pongal in Southern India.
It is winter time in India in January so Sesame seeds are used in abundance. It is believed that people should eat more healthy oils during winter time to fight cold weather. Jaggery produces heat and believed to be better for health if eaten during wintertime.

Making chikki or brittle is easy but can be tricky. It needs little patience to make it crispy and not chewy. Here is my mom's recipe which she learned from my grandmother (her mother-in-law). My mom makes the best chikkis ever! I learnt to make these from her when I was in college. And easiest available ingredients to practice were churmure/kurmure (puffed rice) or roasted peanuts. And growing up in a sugarcane capital of Maharashtra helped because we always had organic jaggery in abundance at home!

Here is how my mom makes chikki -

1 cup Sesame Seeds
1/2 cup Roasted Peanut Powder (coarsely ground)
1 cup Grated Jaggery
3-4 Cardamom Pods
2-3 tbsp Graded Dry Coconut
2 tbsp Walnut Oil / Ghee (divided use)
Water

Preparation -
Pick over sesame seeds and dry roast them on low heat. Seeds will plump up once they are roasted properly. Do not let the seeds burn. Set it aside once roasted.
Grease stainless steel plate (10-12" diameter) and a flat bottom stainless steel bowl with little ghee or walnut oil).
Add jaggery in a heavy bottom pan, add about 2 tbsp water.
Start heating jaggery water mixture on low-medium heat. Do not increase heat as it will burn jaggery quickly and color of the final product will be darker.
Soon the syrup will start boiling (4-5 minutes), keep stirring to avoid burning the jaggery. Syrup will start bubbling. Take 1/2 cup water in a separate bowl and drop single small drop of syrup in the water. Move the drop in water to cool it. Now see if that has become hard like candy. You can try chewing it. If the ball does not stick to your teeth and is crunchy then syrup is ready. If it is chewy then keep stirring on low heat for couple more minutes and taste for the crunchiness by adding another drop in water bowl.
Once syrup is ready add 1 tbsp ghee or walnut oil and mix quickly. Remove the pan from heat then add roasted sesame seeds, peanut powder and dry coconut and quickly mix everything. It will form a ball, quickly pour that in greased plate and flatten with back of a greased bowl. You have to work quickly as jaggery will start cooling off quickly making it hard to work with.
Once the surface is flat and the thickness is even then using sharp knife cut into diamond shapes without going through the brittle.
Let it cool completely (3--40 minutes) and then make the pieces on the scorched lines. Enjoy!

They last for more then 15-20 days if stored in a airtight container.

Here is collage of steps -

Tips -

The process sounds tedious and lengthy but start to finish it takes maximum 30 minutes.
Making the candy consistency of jaggery is the key. Do not rush through that step.
I usually make it in a non-stick pan and at the end of the process my pan is clean as it it was never used.
I cover my large cutting board with aluminum foil and grease that and a rolling pin with walnut oil. And roll it quickly to make thin (1/4 centimeter) brittle.
I have never used candy thermometer to make these, if you use it, please drop a line about that process.

Other Makar Sankrant Specials -

Light Paav Bhaaji

2016-01-04T19:44:00.001-08:00

Paav Bhaji is a crowd pleasing one dish meal that almost everyone loves. I like to slurp the bhaji with least amount of paav(breads) possible. I like the taste of all the vegetables together and spicy soup like paav bhaji. Everyone has their own recipe and they swear by its authenticity and I am no different. I like my vegan version of Paav Bhaji with crusty sourdough bread. Little while ago a friend told me she uses Kasuri Methi to garnish at the end and I tried that and fell in love with it. Another time different friend told me she uses mushrooms instead of potatoes and she loves that version. I am not a great fan of mushroom so I have not tried that version.

Later one day when I was making paav bhaji I remembered the conversation and wanted to cut down number of potatoes. So I decided to use big chunk of Dudhi or Ash Gourd which was eagerly waiting in my fridge to be used in something fancy(or not)! I had to pay attention to few things while making the final version but the general result was very light but tasty version of paav bhaji. I loved it, but significant other thinks its good for us to enjoy at home but might not be as crowd pleasing as the original version. Now I am looking for guinea pigs for my next round of trial :)

Here is the recipe for you to try and report if you liked it or still prefer the original potato heavy version!

Serves 4 people generously.

2 Medium White Potatoes
1/2 of medium Dudhi (Ash Gourd) (2-3 cups cubed)
1 Large Bell Pepper/Capsicum (I use red)
1 Small Carrot
Few Green Beans
3-4 Medium Tomatoes
1 cup Green Peas (Please do not use Petite Green peas they are too sweet)
3-4 Byadagi Chilies
1 Small Blob of Ginger (grated)
2tbsp Paav Bhaji Masala (or per taste)
Red Chili Powder - Per Taste
Salt - per taste
3-4 tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
Water as needed

Garnish -
1 Small Onion
Chopped Cilantro
Lemon Wedges

Pav/Sourdough Dinner Rolls/Dinner Rolls

Preparation -
Wash all the vegetables.
Peel potatoes, cut in half.
Peel carrot and cut in 3-4 pieces.
Peel dudhi and dice in 1" cubes.
Quarter one tomato.
Add all these vegetables in pressure cooker, add one cup of water and pressure cook for about 15-20 minutes on medium heat or until done.
Meanwhile, chop onion, tomatoes, and bell pepper in 1/2" dice.
Mash all cooked vegetables with potato masher.
Heat oil in heavy bottom pan, add chopped onion and sauté onion until golden brown.
Mix in chopped tomatoes and sauté till oil separates.
Now its time to add chopped bell pepper and sauté until done.
Add green peas, pav bhaji masala, red chili powder and salt. Mix and cover for 3-4 minutes util peas are cooked. Mash with potato masher.
Add grated ginger and all mashed up vegetables, mix well.
Adjust salt, pavbhaji masala and chili powder.
Let the bhaji boil.

Serve piping hot as usual with toasted pav, chopped ciltantro, chopped onion and lemon wedge.

Tips -

You can use zucchini or any other summer squashes instead of dudhi.
Please use water as when needed, dudhi or summer squashes contain water and can make bhaji bit watery.

Alepak Pohe

2015-08-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

(Link to Marathi Recipe)

I had this for the first time when I was in 7th grade when I spent 2 months of summer vacation in Belgaum. I had such a gala time playing cards with cousins. I learnt lots of card games from my older cousins.
This is a Belgaum/Belgavi special pohe dish. It is served with sugarcane juice. If you ask anyone from Belgaum about Alepak pohe and she start drooling. This recipe is my Ajji's she must have gotten it from one of the their regular vendors. It is very simple to make and can be ready in about 15-20 minutes.

2 cups of Think Pohe
5-6 tbsp Freshly Grated Coconut
Small piece of Ginger (1/2" blob)
2-3 Green Chilies
2-3 tbsp Phutane Daale
Juice for m1/2 Lime
1/4 cup Chopped Cilantro
1 tbsp Sugar
Salt per taste
1/4 cup Dry Roasted Peanuts skins removed

Preparation -
Clean, sieve pohe to remove any husk etc.
Mix pohe, salt, sugar, lime juice and cilantro and peanuts. Sprinkle 1-2 tbsp water if needed.
Set it aside for 15 minutes.
Grind phutane daale, ginger, green chilies, salt and sugar to fine powder. Make 4 small balls set aside.
Mix remaining ground daale-chili paste in mixed pohe.
Divide pohe in four equal parts. Serve with one ball of daale-chili ball.

Tips -
Enjoy it with fresh sugarcane juice if possible.
I used frozen coconut.
I have used Kerala style Matta Pohe.

आलेपाक पोहे

2015-08-22T09:55:00.002-07:00

(Link to English Recipe)

एप्रिल-मे महिना म्हणले की मला आठवते तो कडक उन्हाळा आणि त्याबरोबर रंगपंचमी, वार्षिक परीक्षा आणि उन्हाळ्याची सुट्टी! अगदी याच क्रमाने सुरु होणारे हे ग्रीष्माचे दोन महीने. उन्हाळ्याच्या सुट्टीमधे परीक्षा झाल्यावर गावाला जायला मिळणार म्हणून आम्ही अगदी खूष असायचो. अशाच एका सुट्टीत माझ्या एका आत्याचे लग्न होते म्हणून आम्ही बेळगावला रहायला गेलो होतो. आम्ही जवळपास १० चुलतभावंडे एकत्र जमलो होतो. सकाळी उठल्यापासून आमचा दंगा सुरू व्हायचा. टीव्ही नव्हता त्यामुळे वेगवेगळे खेळ खेळणे हा आमचा उद्योग सकाळी दूध प्यायल्यावर सुरु व्हायचा. घराच्या गच्चीवर पत्रे, साड्या, लाकडे जे काही सापडेल ते वापरून आम्ही एक झोपडी बनवली होती. त्यात सकाळपासून आम्ही काही ना काही खेळत असू. आम्ही तिघी बहिणी अगदी आनंदाने तासनतास भातुकली खेळायचो. दुपारचे जेवण साधारण १ वाजता व्हायचे. जेवणे झाल्यावर उन्हात जाऊन खेळायला बंदी असे म्हणून मग आम्ही पत्ते खेळत बसायचो. भिकार सावकार, झब्बू, लॅडिस, जजमेंट असे अनेक खेळ मी तेव्हा शिकले. तासनतास खेळायचो. पत्ते खेळताना बरेचदा भांडणे व्हायची. एकदा आमची भांडणे इतकी मोठ्याने झाली की आमचे पत्ते पाणी तापवायच्या चुलीत जाऊन शहीद झाले. नवीन पत्ते आणायला परत पैसे कधी मिळाले नाहीत. मग दुपारी पुस्तके वाच, थोडावेळ झोप, चित्रे काढ असे काहीतरी करत दिवस संपत असे. पण याच काळात आम्ही चुलत भावंडे एकमेकांचे खुप चांगले मित्र बनलो. घरात कानडी-मराठी दोन्ही बोलले जाई त्यामुळे माझे कानडीचे ज्ञान वाढले आणि माझ्या बेळगावमधे रहाणार्‍या भावंडांची मराठी भाषा थोडी सुधारली.तिथे आजीच्या देखेरेखीखाली सगळ्यांना दूध-नाष्टा, दुपारचे जेवण, संध्याकाळचा खाऊ, तिन्हीसांजेला शुभंकरोती, रात्रीचे जेवण चालायचे. नाष्ट्याला पोहे, इडली, उप्पीट, अप्पे असले काहीतरी असे. जेवणात आमटी, उसळ, भाजी, भात, ताक, भाकरी आणि अंबील असे.

त्याच सुट्टीत खाल्लेला अजून एक पदार्थ म्हणजे आलेपाक पोहे. घरी कोणीही नाव घेतले की घरातले लहान-मोठे सगळे अगदी लाळ गाळल्यासारखे चेहरे करायचे. अगदी त्याच आठवड्यात दोनवेळा जरी खाल्ले गेले असले तरी अगदी हीच अवस्था असायची. जेव्हा पहिल्यांदा मी त्या पोह्यांचे नाव ऐकले तेव्हा मला वाटलेले काहीतरी गोड प्रकरण असेल. आलेपाक आणि पोहे एकत्र करून काहीतरी केलेले असेल असा माझा अंदाज होता. प्रत्यक्षात मात्र ते प्रकरण अगदी वेगळे निघाले. उसाचा रस आणि आलेपाक पोहे, कानडी भाषेत आलेपाक अवल्लक्की, हे दोन पदार्थ एकदम विकले जातात बहुदा. तिखट पोहे, गोड रस एकदम झक्कास चव असते. आजीने हे पोहे घरी केलेले मला आठवत नाहीत. प्रत्येकवेळी विकतचेच खाल्लेले आठवतात. दोन एक वर्षांपूर्वी मला या पोह्यांची खुपच आठवण आल्यावर आजीला कृती विचारली होती. तिने साधारण काय काय घटक पदार्थ असतात ते सांगितले होते. तेव्हा खाल्लेल्या पोह्यांची चव आता फारशी लक्षात नाही पण मला जेव्हा जेव्हा आठवण येते तेव्हा आज्जीच्या पद्धतीने हे पोहे मी करत असते. महाराष्ट्रातल्या दडपे पोह्यांचेच हे कर्नाटकी भावंड असे बनवतात -

( ही रेसिपी माहेर मासिकाच्या एप्रिल २०११ च्या अंकात प्रसिद्ध झाली होती)

२ कप पातळ पोहे
५-६ टेबलस्पून ओले खोबरे आल्याचा लहान तुकडा
२ - ३ हिरव्या मिरच्या
२ - ३ टेबलस्पून फुटाण्याचे/पंढरपुरी डाळे
१/२ लिंबाचा रस १ टेबलस्पून साखर चवीप्रमाणे मीठ
१/४ कप धुवून बारीक चिरलेली कोथींबीर
आवडत असतील तर भाजलेले शेंगादाणे सोलून पाकळ्या करुन

कृती -

पोहे चाळून निवडून बाजुला ठेवावेत.
आले, मिरची आणि फुटाण्याचे डाळे एकत्र करून बारीक पूड करावी. थोड्या वाटणाचे ४ छोटे लाडू बांधुन ठेवावेत. पोहे, खोबरे, कोथिंबीर, साखर, मीठ एकत्र करावे. किंचित पाण्याचा हाबका मारायचा गरज असेल तर.
दाणे घालणार असाल तर तेही घालून मिसळावे.
१५ मिनीटे पोहे मऊ होऊ द्यावेत. त्यावर बारीक केलेले आले-मिरची-फुटाण्याचे वाटण घालून नीट मिसळावे.
तयार पोह्यांचे ४ भाग करून सोबत एक एक वाटणाचा लाडु द्यावा.
खाताना लाडु फोडून मिक्स करावा.

टीपा -
शक्य असेल तर उसाचा रस आणून त्याच्यासोबत हे पोहे खावेत.
ओले ताजे खोबरे अर्थात मस्त लागते. पण फ्रोझन खोबरे पण छान लागते.
फोटोमध्ये लाल पोहे वापरले आहेत.

Idli Fry

2015-07-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

I love Idlis and I do make them often, sometimes from scratch and sometimes from the store bought batter. And whenever I have just couple of leftover idlis then I enjoy them with nice and spicy Green Chili-Lemon pickle. That combination is to die for! And back in India I used to add dollop of home churned butter to it and that is for me heaven on the plate!

Another way to use up lots of leftover idlis is to make idly fry! No I am not going to tell you to 'dip perfectly good idli in perfectly good pakoda batter and deep fry' technic! This is my mom's recipe and I only like idli fry prepared this way, simple, tasty and without fuss! I have eaten idli upama, idly fry with some podis etc. but those are not for me!

This recipe is as simple as it can get.

8-10 Leftover Idlis
2-4 Green Chilies (More or less according to your taste)
Salt to taste
1-2 tsp Cumin Seeds
2-3 tbsp Oil

Preparation -
Cube idlis into 1/2" square.
Grind green chilies, salt and cumin seeds to coarse paste. Do not use water to grind chilies.
Heat oil in heavy bottom pan. Once oil is hot enough, add ground chili mixture. Quickly give a stir without burning the chilies.
Now add cubed idli pieces. Mix thoroughly, and saute until idli pieces are coated with oil and chili mixture.
Now lower the heat and cover. Let it cook/steam for 3-4 minutes. Remove cover and mix once or twice.
Adjust salt if needed. Make sure idli are not cold, if not cover and cook for few more minutes!
Enjoy while its warm.

Tips -

We rarely add any other phodani/tempering items to this dish.
I prefer getting leftover idlis to room temperature before making idly fry.
I like it spicy and enjoy with hot cup of tea.

Rice Noodles Salad

2014-08-12T08:22:00.001-07:00

It has been about 3-4 years I have been learning painting from one my friend and teacher. She is one awesome teacher. When I joined I told her that I wanted to learn all the mediums beginning with pencil shading and gradually working towards water color. I am still learning to use all the mediums but watercolor has become my favorite. Let me tell you one thing, watercolor is hard! It takes lot of practice and patience. My teacher had told me that when I started so I am prepared! I recently finished recreating a fascinating painting by Georgia O'Keeffe's : 'Leaves of a Plant' with watercolors. I enjoyed painting it even though it took me longer than expected. There are lots of mistakes which I should have avoided but its a learning process one painting at a time! I hope to do better next time. Here it is for you to see -

Now let's jump to our recipe for the day. Simple salads that feature fresh produce are my favorites in summer. I love salads but I feel hungry much faster. So I am always in search of recipes that can incorporate carbs as well as protein. I recently had one such salad that was a perfect combination of flavors of fresh herbs, fresh vegetables, rice noodles and peanuts. After I tasted it, I had to recreate it at home. It was fun to make it and now has become my favorite! Let's see how to put this all together -

Serves: 4

2 portions of Vermicelli Rice Noodles
1 Red Bell Pepper (Yellow or Orange work well too)
6-7 sprigs of Green Onions
6-7 sprigs of Cilantro
1 sprig (6-7 leaves) Mint (optional)
1 small Cucumber
1 small Tomato
1/4 cup Roasted Peanuts (preferably unsalted and dry roasted)
Salt per taste
1 Lime
1 tsp Oil

Preparation -
Cook noodles according to instructions on the packet. Once cooked, drain and immediately put in cold water to stop them from cooking further. Drain again and put in a serving bowl, sprinkle with oil and mix well. This will help noodles from sticking.
De-seed bell peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. Cut all these vegetables in 1/2" dice and add to the noodles.
Clean the green onions and chop in 1/2" dice. Finely chop cilantro. Add both these to the noodles too.
Coarsely grind peanuts add to noodles.
Squeeze lime juice and add salt to noodles and mix thoroughly. Remember you will need salt for all the vegetables so please add accordingly. Mix well.
Let it sit for at least 30-45 minutes before serving.

Tips -

Tomatoes and cucumber seeds loose too much water when mixed with salt. That is the reason I remove seeds.
Ideally, you can make everything ready ahead of time and mix just 30 minutes before serving.
You can add small pieces of tofu if you wish.
I noticed that green onions have to be tender or use less quantity as it overpowers everything.

Vegan Thumbprint Cookies

2014-08-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

Do you love to cook? Also love to share what you make best? There is a perfect event for all of us in this category - Food Swap! A dear friend of mine, TC, invited me to the first ever food swap she organized. Her idea was simple if you like to cook and cook big batches, then bring it over and share! She also wanted to keep it within circle of friends. Everyone was very enthusiastic and brought variety of things to share. It was very fun event to be part of. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. She then decided to do that as a quarterly event! And it is gaining popularity! Do not forget to checkout what people brought for the events on the Sunnyvale Food Swap FB page.

Now you must be wondering what is the connection between the food swap and the thumbprint cookies! TC herself made citrus marmalade for second swap. It was so awesome that I did not waste even a single minute to enter my name on the swap sheet. Luckily she also liked chutney I had taken for the swap. I had the marmalade with toast for my breakfast. It was the most flavorful Marmalade I have had. I wanted to use that marmalade wisely and first thing came to my mind was thumbprint cookies. TC had shared her recipe with me but somehow I misplaced it and could not find when I needed. Quick search found me this recipe from Whole Foods and I decided to give it a try. And voila it worked like a charm!! I later found TC's recipe as well and it is almost same with few tweaks.

1 cup Almonds
1 cup Rolled Oats
1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 cup Canola oil
1/2 cup Agave Syrup
1/4tsp Fine Sea Salt
6-7 tbsp Citrus Marmalade (or any other jam you have)

Preparation -

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Coarsely grind almonds and oats in food processor.

Mix together flour, oil, syrup, salt and ground almond-oats mixture to form dough.

Make walnut-sized balls of the dough, then arrange cookies 2" apart on baking sheets.

Press thumb gently down into the center of each cookie to make an indentation.

Spoon a teaspoon of jam into each indentation.

Bake cookies until golden brown and just firm around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to let cool completely, then serve immediately or store between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container.

Tips -

I used lot of marmalade as I made large impressions in the cookies and I needed to finish big bottle that TC had given me.
I am sure any other nuts should be okay in this but I have tried only with almonds.

Phunake/Vafole

2014-01-30T20:17:00.001-08:00

A leafy vegetable called Chiu or Chival or Chivai is used in these dumplings when available. Khandeshi people really love this weed kind of vegetable. It grows on its own in the farms. Farmers just pull it out by bag fulls and sell. This vegetable is bit slimy and sour to taste.

Phunake or Vafole are Khandeshi style toor daal dumplings. These are usually eaten with Khandeshi style buttermilk kadhi. It is one protein packed lunch menu I always enjoy when I visit my in-laws place. Very simple to make but tasty.
Combination of these two, Phunake made with chivai is a delicacy in Khandesh. Everyone in my family start drooling even with the thought of it.

Recipe I am sharing today is made up with chopped onions and cilantro as it is not possible to get Chivai vegetable here. These dumplings are served with specially prepared Khandeshi Kadhi.

1 cup Toor Daal
1 Small Onion
3-4 Green Chilies (or per taste)
5-6 Cloves of Garlic
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
Salt per taste
Fistful of Chopped Cilantro
Water as needed

Preparation -
Pick over and wash daal. Soak it in about 2-3 cups of water for 5-6 hours.
Drain soaked daal after 5-6 hours, reserve drained water. We will use that to grind daal.
Coarsely grind daal using reserved water and little more if needed. The consistency of batter should be dry and not watery.
Remove in a bowl and add salt to taste.
Chop onion and cilantro into fine dice. Mix into the batter.
Grind green chilis, garlic and cumin seeds into paste. Mix this thoroughly in the prepared batter. Taste test for salt and chilies, adjust accordingly.
Now boil water in vessel which can be fit a steamer. Oil the steamer or line with parchment paper.
Make fist size balls of prepared batter and line up properly in steamer plate. Steam on medium heat for 12-15 minutes.
Once phunake are steamed, let them cool down a little bit and then serve with Khandeshi Buttermilk Kadhi.

Tips -

Another vegetable Gholu/Ghol (purslane) and Chival are different weeds. Here is picture of Ghol - http://www.vadanikavalgheta.com/2011/08/gholichi-bhaji.html. Ghol leaves are almost 3 times bigger than chival leaves.
Once served, break the dumplings into crumbs and eat with kadhi like we eat rice and kadhi.
I suggest re-steaming the leftovers instead of microwaving.
These are traditionally made with toor daal and no other daals added.

Peeth Perun Bhaji

2013-12-02T19:41:00.003-08:00

Peeth - Flour
Perun - Sprinkled

Knitting is one passion I come back to after trying various other hobbies. I rarely come back empty handed when I visit yarn stores. Actually I should say that with all my visits to any arts and crafts stores. But knitting is one hobby lets me help others just a little bit. Few years ago I found out about a knitting group in my office and and I joined their mailing list. Group meets once in a week and there are lot of experienced knitters who help new hobbyist learn new techniques or help sort out mistakes. I am not a regular visitor but I do go meet them once in a while. One great thing about this group is that they make chemo hats every year as community service and donate any organization like Knots Of Love. I love participating in these events. See if you have a drop off location near you for any of the organization that accept Chemo hats or any other knitted or crocheted goodies. You can check some of the organizations here who accept knitted or crocheted hats or scarves or blankets. I hope some of you can spend time making hats or scarves this winter to help people in need.

Now off to today's recipe. We Maharashtrians like peeth perun bhaji, vegetable sprinkled with chickpea flour. I think traditionally women started making it to increase quantity to feed the large families. But it tastes so good that now it just made as a separate dish. You can make green onion, methi or almost all the leafy vegetables, or my favorite capsicum! Its very simple to make and results are crowd pleasing.

I just follow my mom's recipe, and here is how she makes it -

2 Capsicum/Bell Peppers (should yield 2-2.5 cups diced)
1 small onion
1/2 to 3/4 cup Chickpea Flour (Besan)
2 tbsp Roasted Peanut Powder
1-1.5 tbsp Kanda Lasun Masala (or per taste)
Salt Per Taste
Fistful of Chopped Cilantro
For Tempering - 2 tbsp Oil, 1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds, 1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds, 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder, pinch of Hing.

Preparation -
Wash bell peppers, remove seeds and green stem.
Chop the peppers into 1/2" dice.
Chop onion into 1/2" dice.
Heat oil in thick bottom utensil. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Add turmeric powder and hing when mustard seeds start spluttering.
Add onion and saute until golden brown.
Now add chopped peppers, and saute for 3-4 minutes on low heat. Add kanda lasun masala, salt and roasted peanut powder. Mix thoroughly.
Lower the heat and add about half of the chick pea flour, mix well and see if you need some more. You should add just enough to coat the pepper and not too much.
Mix and cover with tight lid. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes on low heat. Remove the lid mix thoroughly. If flour is cooked, sprinkle cilantro and mix and enjoy with chapati or bhakari.

My favorite peeth perun bhaji is on its way to my favorite event MLLA#66 by Lisa, originally started by Susan and currently hosted by Simona!

Tips -

Sometimes the peppers leave too much water when it starts cooking, in that case you can saute peppers on high heat to let the water evaporate. Or you can add more chickpea flour.
Try the same formula with green onions.

RataLyacha Khees

2013-11-11T20:43:00.001-08:00

RataLe - Japanese Sweet Potatoes
Khees - Grated

Sweet Potatoes, yams, multiple types of potatoes available in this country used to be extremely confusing for me. Initially I must have spent almost 30 minutes around the potato bin to find the sweet potatoes(that I knew) almost on all the grocery trips. Then I just gave up and stopped buying them altogether as they are humongous in size and turned really pasty/mushy when I cooked them. They were not sweet and I just did not care for them after number of tries. I did manage to make this RataLyacha Khees with orange versions or yam and sweet potatoes and that was okay but in general could get acquainted with the taste or the texture.

Fast Forward about a year and I found 'the sweet potatoes' in farmers market just like the ones we get in India! They are known as Japanese Sweet Potatoes. They are small, purple skinned, pale white flesh inside, fibrous, sweet and very flavorful in general. These show up in market seasonally and I eat them to my heart's content! A friend of mine slices them lengthwise and brushes little bit of butter and wraps with aluminum foil and then grills them. Oh they taste just awesome!

Now back to the recipe. This is a very traditional Maharashtrian recipe and usually made on the religious fasting days. As all the other religious fasting recipes, this also contains peanut powder. But this is more healthier than the Sabudana Khichadi. I make it once in a while for breakfast. After eating too many Diwali sweets, and deep fried snack, you might be craving for simple home made breakfast, just like me. Now let's see how to make it -

2 Large Japanese Sweet Potatoes (It should yield about 5-6 cups grated)
5-6 Green Chilies (or per taste)
2-3 tbsp Oil
1/4 cup Roasted Peanut Powder (more if you like it)
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
7-8 Curry Leaves
Salt per taste
Juice of 1/2 Lime/Lemon
Few sprigs of Cilantro, finely chopped.

Preparation -
Wash sweet potatoes thoroughly so that all the soil is washed away. If soil is stuck to the tubers, please soak them in water for 10-15 minutes and then wash them thoroughly. Pat them dry.
Now chop green chilies either to fine pieces or just keep them whole with just one slit on every chili.
Peel off the skin using potato peeler. It might be bit difficult to peel as these are much denser than potatoes.
Grate the sweet potatoes and keep them aside. **
Heat oil in non stick pan, add cumin seeds. Once cumin seeds start spluttering, add curry leaves and green chilies. Let them sizzle for about a minute on medium heat.
Now add half of the grated sweet potatoes, sprinkle salt and peanut powder.
Spread the rest of the grated sweet potatoes over.
Start mixing everything carefully on lower medium heat. Once everything is mixed well, cover and let it cook for about 4-5 minutes on lower-medium heat. Then mix again little, cover and cook.
It should not be mushy but should be cooked. Sprinkle lemon juice and chopped cilantro over, mix again for another couple of minute.
Enjoy while its warm with cup of tea!

Tips -

** Sweet potatoes turn black too quickly. Do not grate them and keep aside for more than 5 minutes. Some suggest washing the shredded potatoes with water, but I do not do that because it looses all its nutrients that way.
Add more roasted peanut powder if you like.
You might have to use more chilies than one normally use, as these are 'sweet' potatoes. :)

Phirni

2013-10-08T19:46:00.000-07:00

Rice kheer used to be my favorite kheer. One of my aunt makes it the best. I used to be very cream perfectly sweetened and just enough saffron and cardamom. I have tried reproducing it never comes out the way my aunt's.
Recently we friends did a Punjabi themed potluck dinner. I decided to make parathas and dessert. My initial thought was to make Gajar Ka Halwa. That would have been very typical but I did not go the 'typical' route. I asked a Punjabi friend whether Phirni counts as a Punjabi dessert and she said yes. So I decided to make Phirni. To keep it simple I decided to only use saffron and then garnish with nuts. I find making phirni is extremely easy if you do not mind constant stirring. You can make it ahead of time and can be served in individual kulhads or everyone can take as much as they want from big serving bowl.

(Recipe is adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor)

6tbsp Basmati
5 cups Fat Free Milk (0%)
2 cups Reduced Fat Milk (2%)
1/2 cup sugar
Few Strands of Saffron

Preparation -
Soak rice for minimum 2-3 hours.
Drain rice and start grinding. Use little milk for grinding as necessary. Strain using fine sieve. Repeat until 99% of rice is ground to fine paste.
Soak saffron in one tablespoon milk.
Mix remaining milk to the ground rice and add sugar.
Now start heating on low flame. I suggest use nonstick pan instead of a normal utensil. Stir constantly - literally do not stop. If you stop stirring, rice will form lumps and it becomes very difficult to get soft creamy consistency.
Add soaked saffron when consistency thickens a little bit. Continue stirring until it thickens like pudding. Rice should be completely cooked.
Arrange individual bowls in serving platter, and pour about 3/4 cup in each bowl. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
Garnish with nuts and saffron threads just before serving.

(Photo courtesy: Evolving Tastes)

Tips -

I have made phirni with only with fat free milk but that takes bit more sugar so I decided to use little bit of 2% milk.
Once I made phirni with nuts but I did not enjoy that much as I like creamy version more.
Grinding the rice to very fine paste is very important. It takes time but that makes phirni smoother.
Given proportions yield about 9 portions of the size shown in picture.

Western Maharashtrian Thalis - Guest post for Sailu's Kitchen

2013-09-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

Sailaja of Sailu's kitchen asked me to write another article about the Western Maharashtrian food that I grew up with. This cuisine is very dear to my heart and my daily cooking is still based on the recipes from this region.

Clockwise from top - Matakichi Amati, Dry Zunaka, Jwarichi Bhakari, Mirachiche Lonache (Chili Pickle), Koshimbir, Dollop of Home Churned Butter