Crispy Bottle Gourd Peel Chutney, Awards and tags..

Hi Foodies ! Today is a special day in my life, as a new blogger like me has been tagged and sent awards by Parita of Parita’s World. I am really overwhelmed. Thank you Parita for believing in my blog.

Answers to the tag :
1.what is your current obsession?
Collecting bakeware and blogging.

2. What are you wearing today?
A white and maroon chudidar kurta.

3. What’s for dinner?
Moong daal, Crispy bitter gourd and phulkas

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
A bundt pan and coffee essence.

5. What are you listening to right now?
Mejwani Rangatdaar recipes on ETV

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?

Parita, comes across as an innovative blogger. I like the finesse of her cooking and the ease with which she can present a complicated recipe in a simplified way.

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?

Anywhere in this world provided S and kids are there with me.

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?

Water, Cotton clothes, Sun glasses and my body spray.

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
UK

10. Which language do you want to learn?
German. I have done a basic course in which I excelled..But that was too many yrs back!

11. Who do you want to meet right now?
My brother in UK.

12. What is your favorite colour?
Black and White

13. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?

A black and red Baluchari silk saree.

14. What is your dream job?
I guess, to have my own cafetaria with a reading lounge, where I could serve coffee and hot muffins.

15. What’s your favourite magazine?
Cooking and More by Tarla Dalal

16. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Buying a gift for hubby…will gift him on our anniversary falling in this week.

17. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Heavy makeup and unfitting clothes.

18. Who are your style icons?
I like the way Kiran Kher carries herself and her ethnic jewellery.

19. Describe your personal style?
Dress to your comfort but in an Indian way.

21. What are your favourite movies?
Lots of them, from where do I start… DDLJ, The Terminal, Jab We Met, MPK , Love Aaj Kal, Dil hai ki Manata nahi…

22. Give us three styling tips that always work for you:

Comfortable Salvar Kurta, my Grey Kajal and a light matte lipstick

23. Coffee or tea?

I am a teetotaler

24. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Cry out to release the pain, and pray to God to give me courage and patience.

25. What is the meaning of your name?
Flowers Paarijaat in sanskrit

26. Which other blogs you love visiting?
Lots! All the blogs which I have been following and keep searching for more….

27. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Black Forest Pastry and Tiramisu

28. Favorite Season?
Winter…at least one does not sweat!

29.Which is your dream destination?

Switzerland

30: Which is your favorite international cuisine ?
Italian

31. My favorite Kitchen tool?

A sharp knife for chopping.

My Question: Your most memorable moment?

The rules are:
Respond and rework – answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, and add one more question of your own. Then tag eight or ten other people.

I am passing on the awards and the tag to

EC of Simple Indian Food

Archana Pritish of Archysrecipe

Arundati of Escapades

Raaga of The Singing Chef

Saee of My Jhola

Preeti Kashyap of Relishing Recipes

Nags of Edible garden

Sangeeta of Banaras ka khana

Most of these bloggers would not know me, but I have been reading their blogs for some time now, except for Saee, Sangeeta and Preeti, whose blogs I discovered recently and loved them instantly. Congrats guys, I am sure that you will love these awards. Pls pick up your awards and pass it on.

Now, coming to my recipe…This is a very healthy chutney and comes as an excellent side dish with any subzi or daal. I learnt this one from my granny. It is a very good way of introducing the very healthy vegetable peels in our food, which are generally thrown away. To my understanding except the bittergourd, all the other gourd peels can be used in a similar way to make this chutney.

Ingredients

grated peel of a small bottlegourd

a handful of peanuts

1-2 tbsp bhuna chana daal ( chutney daal)

4-5 finely chopped green chillies

1 tsp red chili pwd

1/4 tsp turmeric pwd

1 tbsp each of white sesame and poppy seeds

1/4 tsp asafoetida

1 tsp each of coriander and cumin pwd

1/4 tsp citric acid or 1 tsp amchoor pwd

3-4 tbsp oil

salt to taste

1/4 tsp sugar (optional)

Method

Heat oil and add mustard seeds, let them crackle and then add green chilies, asafoetida, peanuts.

Let the peanuts get fried add roasted chana daal, sesame and poppy seeds.

Add the red chili, turmeric, coriander and cumin pwd and saute for 30 secs.

Throw in the grated peel, salt and sugar. Be careful while adding the salt as the volume of the peel reduces considerably on cooking.

Cook on low flame and keep mixing after short intervals to avoid scorching.

Cook till the gourd is crisp..will take 15-20 mins. Now add the citric acid/amchoor. The gourd turd brownish black in colour.

Store in an airtight container. Stays good for about a week.

Tip – Try to use a pan with a flat base.

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Indori Kanda Poha..a breakfast to relish

Some people might find the title very strange but for people who have visited Indore and tried and tasted this Poha will agree to my title.

Indore is foodies paradise. People there love eating food and they are wonderful hosts. In the streets of Indore, one would get all kinds of food to eat right from Paani puri, sabudana khichadi, various kachori & samosas, fafade, khaman to Daal Baati, Churma, Mava baati, dahi Vada, jal jeera, Mava Jalebi, Malpua and the list goes on..

In the Rajawada area of Indore there is a Khau galli (foodies lane) called Sarafa. This street is bustling with people at night to try out various food items. The life on this street starts only after 9 PM, when lots of small restaurants and thela gadis serve innumerable delicacies. People from all cadres come and eat here. Just mentioning all this, my mouth waters and I am mentally transferred there....

But of all the things I mentioned here, people in Indore love to eat Poha with hot jalebis as breakfast. One can see lots of Thela gadis and restaurants selling these two items in the morning. The speciality of the Poha is, it’s very light and soft, cooked in minimum oil and has a light yellow texture and full of flavors of onion(Kanda)(hence the name kanda poha) and fennel along with the very light sweetness of sugar. It is garnished with the famous Indori Sev, lemon and coriander. Indori’s will not have their Poha without Sev. The best option is garlic flavoured spicy Sev on top but any spicy plain sev will taste good.

This time when I started making Poha, I suddenly remembered I had not made this type in a long time and then and there I decided to make this version and share with all my foodie friends.

S and kids relished the Poha. I had made it a little extra than I normally make, but everything just got finished.

This is an ideal breakfast for growing kids and family as it’s very healthy and extremely quick to make. It can make a tasty and filling lunch box.

Sending this as my entry to WYF : Breakfast hosted by Simple Indian food

Ingredients

Serves 4

5 handsful thick poha (beaten rice)

3 medium onion finely chopped

5-6 green chillies finely chopped

4-5 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)

salt to taste

1/4 tsp turmeric pwd

1/2 –1 tsp sugar

Any spicy sev to garnish

chopped coriander

lemon wedges

Method

Wash the Poha several times till it is clean. Sprinkle the salt, turmeric and sugar and mix the Poha properly. Keep it aside for 10-15 mins.

Meanwhile heat the oil and throw in the mustard followed by the fennel seeds.

Add the green chilies and onions and saute till the onions are translucent.

Now add the Poha and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle some more water, mix and then cover it for 5-10 mins and cook with the steam.

Serve hot, garnished with coriander, Sev and a lemon wedge. ( I could not put lots of coriander as it's rarely available here. This small leaf I plucked from my small plant, in my cute little pot)

Note- Do not use red chilli pwd instead of green chilies, as it will take away the original flavors.

Sending it as my entry to WYF: Breakfast hosted by EC at Simple Indian food
also sending it to Rice Feast hosted by Aathidhyam

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Nadir Yakhni from the world of Kashmiri Cuisine

This is my second post for Show what you cook for guests hosted by Rak’s kitchen. To view my complete spread click here.

The Kashmiri cuisine is predominantly of two types –

1. Wazwan cuisine  which is a multi-course meal in the Kashmiri tradition, is treated with great respect. Its preparation is considered an art. Almost all the dishes are meat-based (lamb, chicken, fish, beef). It is considered a sacrilege to serve any dishes based around pulses or lentils during this feast. The traditional number of courses for the wazwan is thirty-six, though there can be fewer. The preparation is traditionally done by a vasta waza, or head chef, with the assistance of a court of wazas, or chefs.

Wazwan is only restricted to the Muslims of Kashmir and they regard it as the pride of their culture and identity.

Some dishes  that are considered a requirement for wazwan include: Safed kokur or zafraan kokur ,Meth maaze ,Ristae, Rogan josh, Dhani phul ,Aloo bukhaar: chutney made with fresh plums onions sugar lime juice and spices, Gaade kufta

2. Kashmiri Hindu cuisine

Kashmiri Pandit food is also very elaborate, and is an important part of the local Hindu culture's identity. The food usually uses a lot of yoghurt ,turmeric, and oil & spices, and avoids onion, garlic and tomatoes. Unlike Kashmiri Muslim cuisine, it does not include many minced meat dishes, except machh.

Typical vegetarian dishes include:

Ladyar Chaman (Indian Cheese in Turmeric), Veth chaman (Indian Cheese, cooked in oil and Kashmiri spices), Dama oluv (Potato), Nadeir yakhni (Lotus Stem), Hak (with nadeir/vangan), Nadier palak

I am posting the recipe of Nadir Yakhni a delicacy of Kashmiri hindu cuisine. As I have mentioned earlier this is a curry cooked in yogurt and cooked in aromatic spices which yield a distinguished taste to the cuisine.

When my family tasted it, I curiously asked how does it taste. The answer I got was very confusing – it tastes different in different parts of mouth was S’s first answer. My elder one said it tastes likes biryani when mixed with rice. The most favorite answer was again by S which he said at the end..it tastes something like what we tasted in the Kashmiri restaurant in Mumbai. I was extremely confused by then and asked them in frustration…is it good? S started to laugh and said it’s good that’s why we are saying so many things, why do not you taste yourself to believe. And friends truly it was too good to resist and it tasted even better the next day.

One should try this at least once and I promise you will make it again and again. My family is going to confuse me again and again but I will keep making interesting things for them, as I know they are my true critic and only help me to improve and become better in my cooking skills.

Ingredients For Nadir Yakhni

serves 6

500 gms Lotus stem (3-4 medium sized)

2 cups yogurt

2-3 onions sliced

2 tbsp ghee

oil for frying

salt to taste

 

spices

6-7 cloves

2 inch cinnamon stick

6 cardamom

2-3 black cardamom

1/2 tsp shah jeera/ caraway seeds

2 tsp kashmiri mirch

1 tsp dry ginger pwd

1 tsp fennel pwd

2 tsp pudina pwd

 

Method

Cut the edges of lotus stem and peel them. Cut them into diagonal slices. Soak them in water.

Boil the slices in salted water till almost done.

Deep fry the onion slices in oil till brown in colour and then grind it with a little water. They impart the brown colour to the gravy.

Mix the yogurt properly with a whisk with half a cup of water and then strain. Boil the strained yogurt stirring continuously till it changes it’s colour. The colour changes from white-yellow on boiling.

Mix together fennel and dry ginger pwd , mix them with a little water. Now mix it with the onion paste. Heat the ghee and throw in cinnamon & cloves, when they crackle add the onion mix, kashmiri mirch and saute.

 

Put the boiled lotus stem and the boiled yogurt and bring it to a boil and simmer cook. When the lotus stem are completely cooked and the curry  almost done add shah jeera, salt and cardamom. At the end add the pudina pwd and mix properly.

Serve it hot with rice/ naan/roti.

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Raksha Bandhan Treat for all my brothers and the family, the post of the day.. Bread & Butter Pudding

  Relationships are the essence of celebration and it holds true for any festival. Each festival in India brings the family together which calls for a total festive environment. Raksha Bandhan is a celebration of one such relation - the relation of a brother and a sister.

   The relation is no where so celebrated as in India. Raksha Bandhan is a festival which celebrates the bond of affection between brothers and sisters. It is a day when the siblings pray for each others' well being and wish for each others' happiness and goodwill.
The name 'Raksha Bandhan' suggests 'a bond of protection'. On this auspicious day, brothers make a promise to their sisters to protect them from all harms and troubles and the sisters pray to God to protect their brother from all evil. The festival falls on the Shravan Poornima which comes generally in the month of August. Sisters tie the silk thread (resham)called Rakhi on their brother's wrist and pray for their well being and brothers promise to take care of their sisters.

I was missing my brother very much who is sitting pretty in UK. Traditionally the sister makes coconut burfi and after doing the Tilak and tying the rakhi gives it to her brother.

Today I did not make any burfi, infact I even did not go near the coconut. Kids were a little low that they had not received their  Rakhi from their cousin sis. I thought of giving everybody a treat and my brother in UK a visual treat by cooking a little elaborately. I decided to be the host to the ‘three men in my life’ and let them be  the guests of honour. I requested my hubby dear to come home for lunch so that all of us could have it together as the kids had a holiday.

I made the basic rice and roti, along with it I made Pumpkin raita, Nadir yakhni (a wazwan recipe) and the very popular Bread & Butter Pudding. This spread of dishes is also going    to Show what you cook for Guests hosted by Rak’s Kitchen.

I will be posting all the recipes one by one. As it is a festive day today, I am going to post the Bread & Butter Pudding. This is for my brother P and all my cousins P, V, A & K. Hope you all are enjoying your day.

The bread and butter pudding is a British recipe and asks for eggs. But today I avoided adding them being a festive day and given a choice I will keep avoiding eggs as I am personally not very fond of them. It can be an excellent dessert for any occasion. It is very mildly spiced and has very subtle flavors. The three men loved eating the pudding.

Ingredients For The Pudding
4-6 Bread slices
2 cups milk
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
1/4 tsp cinnamon pwd
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp each of raisins and walnuts
1 1/2 tbsp butter
For the Topping
1/4 tsp nutmeg pwd
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter

Method


Grease a 8 inch pie dish. Trim the edges of the bread and cut into triangles. Apply butter on one side and keep the buttered side up and form two layers.

Sprinkle the cinnamon pwd and spread the raisins and walnuts on top of it.

For the custard- Mix the corn starch and sugar in some milk and boil the remaining. Add the corn starch mix to it stirring continuously while cooking to prevent scathing. Cool the custard and add the vanilla essence to it.

Pour the custard on the bread and press the bread to let it soak the custard. Sprinkle the brown sugar and nutmeg and put knobs of butter on top.

Bake it in a preheated oven for 20-25 mins at 180 C.

This is also my entry to Think spice hosted by Sunita Bhuyan Sunday Snacks- Snacks with bread hosted by Priya’s easy N tasty recipes. This event was started by Hima of SnackORama. Also it heads to AWED(A Worldly Epicurean's Delight) – Britain hosted by Bombay Foodie and is the brain child of DK of Chef in you.
Sending also to FIL- Milk hosted by Sanghi of Sanghi’s Food Delights

Lastly but not the least it heads to FF-Rakshabandhan. festive foods was started by Purva and priti.

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Leek and Potato Soup with Bread Knots….getting friendly with the ‘Yeast’ ghost

These days I am in a mood of eating light at night and the easiest and healthiest option remains the soup. The name leek and potato soup, I  heard it for the first time from my SIL G. G used to have soups and salads for her lunch in her office in UK, she had in particular mentioned about this soup that it tastes really good. Till then I had always seen a Leek in a vegetable shop but was never tempted to buy it. After her mentioning about it, in my next shopping round of the veggies the Leek was introduced to the family.

 

 

      I surfed the net in search of the recipe and found a few which I twisted and modified. I do not know how G’s soup was made but true to G’s word the soup turned out really tasty. I must confess here I was really skeptical about how it will turn as I had never tasted a Leek earlier, and in my first experiment I jumped on to a soup! Ever since I made it the first time, the family has loved having it. This recipe calls for minimum ingredients but yields maximum satisfaction of sipping a delectable soup. Just have it piping hot.

 

 

 

      I have loved reading in the  English books where the lady of the house serves hot bread and cookies straight from the oven along with hot tea or soup. I used to dream some day even I will do that…This time when I made the soup I wanted to serve fresh home made bread. Like I mentioned, I always fancied making a bread at home but always feared  how it will turn out, how well I could handle the yeast (the yeast ghost).

 

 

    I googled through various websites trying to understand the intricacy and planning involved in baking a bread. Whatever I read gave me a little confidence that I might be able to handle the yeast. So this daring baker(which I am not yet) dared with some simple bread knots to start with. I was really inspired by a swiss bread posted by Chef in you. The knots came out perfect, though a little dense as I had replaced a part of the recipe with whole wheat flour. I must try it again with a little extra yeast next time, or you all can suggest what else I could do. I could not take a click of a cut slice as the bread got finished very fast, that makes me believe it was good and worth all the effort.

 

 

Ingredients for the Leek & Potato soup

Serves 6

 

1 Leek chopped

2 medium Potatoes finely chopped

1-2 tsp white pepper powder

1 1/2 cups double toned milk

2 tbsp butter

4 cups water

salt to taste

1-2 vegetable stock cubes/ fresh vegetable stock

 

Method

 

Heat butter in a pan and throw in the chopped leek and potatoes, mix and add salt(add less if veg stock cubes are used), this releases water and helps in cooking. Saute for a few minutes.

 

Add pepper, veg stock cubes. Mix and add milk and water and bring it to a boil.

Once the potatoes are soft, run a hand blender in the soup.This thickens & brings in a consistency to the soup .

Serve hot with some cream on top (I did not put) and bread.

Ingredients for Bread Knots

 

3 3/4 cups bread flour ( I replaced 1 cup with wheat flour)

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tbsp active yeast

1 tsp honey

1 cup luke warm milk

4 tbsp melted butter

 

 

Method

 

In the luke warm milk add honey, butter and instant yeast and let it stand for 15 mins.

Mix the flours and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour the egg and the milk mixture. Mix well and knead a dough.
Cover with a cling film and let it rise to a double volume(first rise). It took 1 hour for me as the temperature is soaring here.

Punch the dough and deflate. Make lemon sized balls and make 9 inch ropes and make the knots.

Let them rise for 30-40 mins ( second rise) and then apply egg white on the top surface for glazing. Bake in a pre heated oven for 30-40 mins at 375 F.

 

Serve with some butter.

The bread knots are my entry to Sunday snacks- Snacks with bread at Priya’s easyntastyrecipes and is the brain child of  Hima of SnackORama .

The soup is my entry to an event Soup N Juice Soup hosted by Sireesha  of  MomsRecipies

 

 

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Punjabi Jeera Aloo …a complete heart winner

This recipe I am posting for S’s cousin Manju. One of these days we had invited her family for lunch. Amongst the various things I cooked, one was this Jeera Aloo. She liked it and asked me how I had made it. I had told her orally that time but now I am posting it in detail. Manju herself is an excellent cook and comes up with innovative recipes. I am going to bother her to share her exclusive recipes, which I will try out and surely post here.

This recipe asks for cumin in all versions i.e ..the seed, the powder and also the roasted powder. A mix of all the three provides a distinguished taste to the veggie. It’s extremely simple to make but very very tasty and that’s why I call it the heart winner. My click has not done justice to the recipe but rest assured, try it and it will be a winner all the same.

Some Information About Cumin-

An aromatic spice with a distinctive bitter flavor and strong, warm aroma due to its abundant oil content. Cumin "seeds" are actually the small dried fruit of an annual herb Cuminum cyminumin, of the parsley family. Native to the Mediterranean, cumin is hotter to the taste, lighter in color, and larger than caraway, another spice it's sometimes confused with. Sold whole or ground, the seeds come in three colors: amber, white or black. Amber is most widely available, but the black has such a complex flavor it should not be substituted for the other two. Cumin is a popular ingredient in Middle Eastern, Asian, Mediterranean and Mexican cuisines, and is one of the main ingredients in curry powder.It is the second most popular spice in the world after Black Pepper.

Ingredients
5-6 Medium Boiled Potatoes(cut into cubes)
2-3 green chilies
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp cumin powder
3 tbsp roasted cumin powder
3-4 tbsp coriander powder
1 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp red chili powder
1 1/2 tbsp amchoor powder
salt to taste
oil for cooking
Method

1. 
   
   Heat oil and let the cumin seeds splutter.
2. 
   
   Slit the green chilies and throw in the oil.
3. 
   
   Mix all the spices and salt together. Simmer the flame and add all the spices. There will be a froth formed(take care not to burn the spices) now add the chopped potatoes and mix gently taking care that the potatoes are not mashed.
4. 
   
   Cover and cook for 2-3 mins and then on high flame for another minute.The masaledar Jeera Aloo is ready.
5. 
   
   Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot poori /paratha.
6. 
   
   It can be eaten just like that or like a chaat by adding curds, chopped raw onion and sev on top of it, and after trying so many versions if there’s some more left, make some sandwiches which I did and they were really very nice.
   
   Sending this to my event 'Only' Crazy For Potato, guest hosted at Nivedhanam.

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Methi Baingan Bharta ( Roasted Egg Plant )

Not everybody likes eggplant,but at my place everyone enjoys eating all the varieties of eggplant. The eggplant used for making Bharta is large and almost round in shape and is dark purple in colour. See the picture here .

Every house has their own version of making Baingan ka Bharta ( bharit in marathi ). Bharit means something mashed . One can roast the vegetable first or steam cook it before mashing. Even the eggplant can be either roasted or steamed before mashing . But the taste imparted by the eggplant is distinctly different in both the methods.

We personally like the roasted version as we enjoy the smoky taste in the eggplant .The steamed version is good for making Raita which I will post sometime.

Yesterday when I decided to make Bharta, I wanted to bring in some additional flavor to the eggplant. I was searching things in my freezer when my hand landed on a small bag of frozen methi ( fenugreek leaves ) which I had very conveniently forgotten ,was existing in my fridge.
Instantly I knew what I wanted to do to my eggplant. I also have made a big batch of frozen peas which really comes out handy for cooking.

I must admit that a blend of methi and baingan tastes very unusual. It's a must try if you like experimenting with flavors.

Ingredients2 medium eggplants(roasted)
1 large onion-chopped
2 medium tomatoes-chopped
3-4 tbsp chopped methi
a small handful of peas
2 green chillies
6-8 pods garlic
an inch of ginger
1-2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp coriander powder
salt to taste
oil to cook
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp garam masala (optional)
chopped cilantro

Method

• 
  
  Put a drop of oil on the eggplant and spread it on the entire surface . Make 2 small incisions on each eggplant and insert a garlic pod in it, then roast it on the gas burner(this infuses the garlic well in the eggplant)
• 
  
  Once the eggplant is roasted, cool it and then immerse it in a container filled with water and peel the burnt top layer( Peeling in water makes the process simpler),then mash it.
• 
  
  Heat oil and add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
• 
  
  Add the finely chopped onions, saute till light brown.
• 
  
  Grate ginger and 2 pods of garlic and add it to the onions and saute till the raw smell disappears.
• 
  
  Add green chillies, tomatoes, salt and cook till oil separates.
• 
  
  Now put turmeric, red chilli, coriander powder and saute.
• 
  
  Add peas and methi and cook on high flame till the bitter smell of methi disappears and it has blended well in the tomato base.
• 
  
  Put mashed eggplant, cilantro and mix well .Cook for 3-4 mins .
• 
  
  Sprinkle garam masala , mix and switch off the flame.(I did not add it this time )

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